The Ice Sculptor
by feistypaants
Summary: Five years after the death of her parents, Anna finds herself seeking a fresh start in Anchorage, Alaska, where she reunites with her long-since-disappeared sister, Elsa, who works in the city as an ice sculptor. Long desperate for love, Anna quickly develops a close bond with two men: Hans and Kristoff. [Kristanna]
1. Prologue

Elsa's eyes were glued onto the clock, her toes tapping nervously as she watched it tick, tick, _tick_ onward. Time was moving painfully slowly as she waited for the hour to come where she would have to leave. It had been years - five, if she was being specific - since she had last seen her little sister, and she knew it wasn't going to be an easy reunion. It had been five long years since she had even _spoken_ to her. Elsa wouldn't be even remotely surprised if Anna _hated _her.

She recalled the phone call that she got the night before she left.

"_Elsa? It's… It's uncle Kai…" Elsa gripped the phone tighter as he spoke, knowing the tone of voice all too well. It was his _bad news _voice. "I have some bad news for you, sweetheart. Your parents… They got into a car accident and… and they didn't ma-"_

Elsa stood abruptly, pacing in front of her sofa and twisting her hands together. Taking a shuddering breath, she barely managed to calm herself enough to sit back down. "Get it together," she mumbled to herself, shaky hands brushing her hair off of her face. "Keep it together… for Anna…" She couldn't let her sister see her like this. Not again.

_There was a knock on her door as she barely managed to fold her clothes and shove them into a suitcase. "Elsa?" the small voice of her fifteen year old sister asked through the barely opened door. "What's… what's going on? Why won't you tell me what's going on?"_

_Turning to face her sister, Elsa took a deep breath. "I have to go, Anna. As soon as Uncle Kai and Aunt Gerda get here I…" She froze, looking at the tears in her sisters' eyes. "I can't explain right now, but I promise I will soon."_

She scoffed, running a hand down the length of her braid before resting her palms in her lap. She really had wanted to explain it to her sister, but when she got a tear filled call from Anna, there was no possible way she could.

"_Elsa? Please answer your phone. Please. Why did you leave? I don't… I don't have anyone else. Elsa please, please. I can't…" There was a pause, and some distinct sniffling. "I can't live like this. Not without you…"_

Dropping her head into her hands, she forced herself to think of _anything_ else. There was only one more hour before she had to leave. One more hour before she was on her way to see her sister. One more hour before she even _had _to worry about it. Elsa took a deep breath and stood, moving to continue tidying her small apartment.

xx

Anna clung tighter to her small plush snowman as the pilot announced that they were roughly thirty minutes from their destination. After spending the majority of the last two years trying desperately to find her sister, she was _finally_ going to see her again. The minute she turned eighteen, Kai had given her access to the bank account where they kept her inheritance, as per request of her parents, and almost immediately, Anna had drained all of the money traveling all over the world to try and find Elsa. She had looked everywhere that the blonde had mentioned she wanted to go… before she gave up and started traveling for herself, while simultaneously trying to find out if she was anywhere _near _her.

She never was.

Before she knew it, she had burned through most of her money. And after Kai was laid off from work, Anna couldn't bear the idea of being a burden to them any longer. She was twenty now, and it wasn't fair for them to have to help her. She decided she was going to make one last trip, and it was _going_to be to see her sister.

Begging and pleading, Anna had finally convinced Gerda to call Elsa, and with even more talking, Elsa had finally let them know where she had been all those years. She had even agreed to help Anna get on her feet.

"_I know it's sudden, Elsa… but thank you."_

The sisters had decided not to talk until she got there.

Kai made all the plans.

Anna buried her face into the almost flattened mess that was her plush - Olaf, she had named him - as the plane touched down on the ground. Only baggage claim was standing between her and her older sister. She barely moved, hesitating to grab anything until everyone else had moved forward. Was she ready for this?

xx

Her alarm had gone off, making Elsa almost jump out of her skin and drop the pot she had been washing. It was time to go, and she took a few deep breaths before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. This whole situation felt tense and nervewracking to the blonde, as she started up her engine and headed in the direction of the airport.

When she had gotten the call from Kai, Elsa had almost ignored it, so terrified that something had happened to her sister.

"_No, No," he had cut her off with a bit of a bit of a bittersweet chuckle. "We just… Anna really wants to see you. It's all she wants to do."_

It wasn't that she was _unhappy_to hear from her pseudo-family… She had just been shocked, was all. After five years, after she had asked them to only call her if it was an emergency, after they had agreed and (very hesitantly) respected her wishes, it had been a bit of a surprise.

"_I'll be _fine_," she had half-heartedly reassured them. "I have money saved up, and money from the inheritance…" She dragged her bags out the door, throwing them into her car. She looked up to see her Anna glaring out the window. "I'll… I'll let you know that I'm safe. Is that enough?"_

_Kai had nodded, giving her one last hug. "I don't know why you feel like you have to do this… But you're an adult and I know your parents would have wanted us to respect your wishes."_

Elsa's knuckles gripped tighter on the steering wheel as she continued down the streets of the city. It was late enough at night that barely anyone was around, which she was more than thankful for as her thoughts continued to cause her to drift around on the roads.

After a fairly short drive, Elsa could see the signs for the airport on the side of the road. She took a few deep breaths and willed herself to calm down. _It'll be fine, Elsa_. She was worried, _so _worried… but something deep inside her made her believe that everything would be okay. Anna wasn't spiteful. Anna had always been the forgiving one between the two of them.

"_Elsa… I'm not mad. I'm not. It's been six months. I just want my sister back. Please. I just want to talk to you… I'm lonely and afraid… I… please just talk to me, Elsa. We can fix this. I know we can."_

Parking and making her way to the waiting room, Elsa did her best to shake these voicemails out of her head. She never had called back… But would Anna be able to forgive her if she found out that it had been _her fault_that their parents were driving that night? Would she be able to forgive Elsa for being the reason they were crossing through that light as the drunk sped through the red light?

"_Why can't you just _accept _this?" Elsa had asked, head down, fists balled at her sides. "It's what I want. It's who I _am_."_

"_We'll talk about it later, Elsa." Those had been her fathers' last words to her, as he led her mother out the door. He had a habit of going for drives to calm himself down if he got into arguments. It helped._

The blonde grit her teeth and stepped through the doorway to the waiting area. Elsa didn't need to let her know just yet. Anna didn't need to know _why _she had left.

She stood, stoic and silent, waiting for her sisters' familiar head of red hair to appear in the crowd.

xx

Anna stayed in her seat longer than she had thought, apparently, when the tap of a stewardess' fingers against her shoulder startled her. Blue eyes glanced up to the soft, round face of the woman, who smiled apologetically.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but we've arrived in Anchorage, and need you to deplane…"

Nodding furiously and apologizing over and over, Anna grabbed her bags and stumbled down the aisle, the strap of her backpack catching on the seats as she made her way down. As soon as she reached the tunnel that connected the plane to the terminal, she paused to take a moment and catch her breath.

"_Elsa… wants you to come stay with her."_

_Anna's jaw dropped with disbelief, eyebrows furrowing together. "She… what? She told you where she was?"_

_Kai nodded, clapping a hand down on her shoulder. "Yes, dear. She did. Now go pack. Figure out what you need right away. We can mail the rest to you." The smile spreading his cheeks was almost unbelievable._

_As was Elsa _finally _telling them where she was._

Sighing heavily, Anna made her way towards baggage claim, waited patiently for her bag to appear, and moved slowly towards the waiting area. This was it. The moment she had wanted for _years_. But right now, all she felt was nausea.

Closing her eyes, she stepped through the doorway.

Open them.

Come _on_, Anna.

Open them!

With one last bit of force she didn't think she had, Anna opened her worried eyes and glanced around the large room. In a matter of seconds, she caught the icy blue eyes of her sister. She blinked once.

Twice.

Fighting the tears welling up in her eyes, Anna took a deep breath and dropped her bags, running forward as fast as she could.

No words were needed when her arms wrapped tightly around her big sister, who happily returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. They stood there for a few moments, Elsa stroking nervous hands around her sisters back and hair, Anna burying her face into her shoulder. Suddenly, there was no anger, no worry, and no resentment.

They were just sisters, united again.

Happy.


	2. Chapter 1

Anna followed fairly quietly as her sister led her out to the car, squishing her stuffed snowman as close to her chest as she could without tearing it apart. Taking the bags from the red head's hands, Elsa smiled as she caught a glimpse of her little plush. "I can't believe you still have that."

"What?" She perked up, looking towards her sister.

"The snowman… Olaf is what we called him, right? I…" The blonde smiled, twisted her fingers together and turned her gaze to the ground. "I got that for you when you were three…"

Glancing down to the plush in her arms, Anna laughed. "Yeah, I guess you did. I was crying because I couldn't reach the crane game..." She shrugged and held the worn down plush at arms length. "I guess I've had him forever… I can't imagine _not_ having him, you know?"

Elsa nodded, closing the trunk after she loaded the last of Anna's suitcases in, and placed a tender hand to her little sister's back. "I understand. It… makes me happy that you still have him. Like… Like I didn't make you hate me by leaving." Anna made move to protest, but she stopped her. "Please, I… I'm not sure I'm ready to have the conversation about this yet."

Biting back her frustration, Anna let her sister lead her towards the passenger side door, and slid in with little grace. "So…" she hummed, pressing her lips together while she waited for Elsa to slide into the drivers seat. "So what have you been doing over the last few years?"

The blonde glanced over towards her little sister as the engine roared to life. "That's a rather… loaded question, don't you think?" She backed out, and continued on her way towards home.

"Well I just mean," Anna started, looking down at Olaf and petting a hand over his bent stick hair. "What's your job, maybe?" she finished with a large yawn.

Elsa laughed and let her shoulders relax, glancing over to her sister and her heavy eyelids. "I… make ice sculptures. For parties, and such."

Offering a smile, the red head yawned behind her hand. "That's… that's so cool. I remember you liked making sculptures. Why…" and Anna was out, snoring lightly, head flopping over to rest against the window.

The blonde couldn't help but giggle at her sisters' snoring, and decided to wait until they got to the apartment to wake her up - It was barely a thirty minute drive anyway. She stayed silent, driving along still empty roads to her small apartment complex, and pulled into the first empty spot she could find.

"Anna," she whispered, nudging her sister gently on her shoulder. "Anna, we're here…"

"Hm?" came a muffled, barely awake response. "What…?"

"We're home, Anna," Elsa continued, unbuckling her little sisters' seat belt and quickly moving to get out of the car. "Let me bring you up and you can sleep in your room, okay?" Elsa walked over to the passenger side of the car, opened the door and helped the red head to her feet.

"Mmmkay," she hummed, leaning on the blonde. "Can I go to sleep?"

Elsa laughed lightly, walking to the door with Anna in tow. "Of course. Just sleep. I'll get your bags for you."

With a flick of her wrist, she unlocked the door and all but dragged Anna through the threshold. "Come on, stay awake just a little longer…" the red head grunted and offered small steps for assistance. "Your room is right back here."

Walking through the living room, kitchen, and hallway, Elsa led her mostly asleep sister to the small bedroom in the middle of the hall and lay her down on the bed. "All right, here we go... Get some rest, okay?"

Anna smiled, curling herself up under the sheets, and nodded. "G'night Elsie," she mumbled, dozing off as quickly as she had before.

A relieved sigh passed over her lips as Elsa moved to leave the room and retrieve Anna's suitcases from the car. It took two trips for her to get everything back in the apartment. She dumped all of the bags next to the couch before falling back onto the couch with a sigh, pulling out her phone, and finally noticing the text alert blinking on the screen.

_[ Hey Ice Queen, how did things go today? ]_

Elsa chuckled, flipping her phone open to reply to her friend.

_[ Fine. It was fine. She's asleep now. I'll have to introduce you to her eventually. I think you'd like her. ]_

_[ That's funny. Don't play matchmaker. I'm serious. ]_

_[ Who said anything about matchmaking? ]_

_[ Don't. ]_

_[ Fine, fine. You'll meet her eventually anyway. I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, right? ]_

_[ Ice delivery, every thursday as usual. ]_

Picking herself up, Elsa made way for her bedroom, dropping forward and into her bed, falling asleep before she even had a chance to get under the covers.

xx

Anna woke the next morning, blinking as she tried to take in her new surroundings. She could hardly remember making it to the apartment, much less into bed. Sitting up, the red head stretched her hands up and over her head, glancing around the room. The walls were a pale green, complemented by dark green bedding and dark wood furniture. Had Elsa remembered her favorite color?

Smiling and snuggling the blankets up under her chin, Anna sniffled, trying to hold back tears. Even if it was still new, she couldn't deny how happy she was to be near her sister again. They used to be so close, until…

She slipped out from under the covers, running hands over her messy, knotted hair, and stood beside her bed. She groaned, wiped a palm over her sleepy face, and immediately realized just how _badly_ she needed the bathroom… and the fact that she had no idea where it was.

Inching towards the doorway, Anna froze when she heard a voice other than Elsa's.

"I dropped it off already, woman!" the obviously male voice laughed. "If you don't trust me you can check before paying me, but I figured you'd rather it go straight to the freezer instead of melting in my truck."

She peeked out through a slightly cracked door - there were shadows, but that was about all she could see.

"Yes, I trust you. You've been delivering ice to me for _years_, Kristoff. You just never do it this _early_."

Anna took a step out into the hallway. This apartment was small, how far away could the bathroom be? Glancing around, blue eyes caught sight of a closed door, and she prayed that it was the room she was looking for. She stepped on her tip toes, making quick progress to the door in question. Three. Two. One.

"Good morning, Anna."

The red head froze, her hand on the door knob. "Oooh… Hi!" she smiled, turning to face Elsa and the strange man. "I… Didn't want to interrupt."

"That's the closet, you know," the man deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest, her sister laughing behind her hands.

"Well _excuse you_," Anna started, blush spreading from her cheeks across her nose. "I'll have you _know_, Christopher, was it? -"

"It's Kristoff."

"- That it's my _first day_ in this apartment." She let go of the handle, turning to fully face the two friends. "I don't think it's very fair," she continued, mimicking his posture, "for you to _judge_ me."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, let his eyes quickly glance up and down her pajama clad form, and smirked. "Nice shirt. Warm hugs, huh?"

"Wait, what?" Anna's brows knit together and she gave him a look of pure confusion before turning her eyes down to her shirt. She had forgotten that she wore this incredibly old t-shirt on the plane. It was bright pink and simply had the words 'I Like Warm Hugs!' on the front.

Her eyes widened so much that they looked like they might pop right out of her skull, and the red heads' blush coated her whole face, spreading down her neck. "I… I, um, oh, I…" she clamped her lips together when the blondes started snickering, and frowned deeply. "Y-you know what! You're a jerk!" Tightening her arms across her chest enough to distort the image, she turned to head back down the hall. "You'd be pretty cute if you weren't so _rude_!"

Anna halted abruptly when she realized what she had said. _Wait, what?!_

He laughed a little harder, and Anna began sprinting towards the back of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Wiping at his eyes as his laughter calmed with a few breathy 'phew's, Kristoff turned to the woman beside him. "Your sister is a little weird, huh?"

Elsa smiled, placing her hands on her hips as she faced him. "Not weird, just…" she tapped a finger to her chin. "Adjusting. To be honest, though, it's been five years since I last spoke to her. She was fifteen…" Shrugging, she pulled her wallet out of her purse. "People change a lot from fifteen to twenty." Dainty fingers held out the money she owed.

With a nod, Kristoff tucked the cash into his pocket and, hearing a door open again, risked one more glance down the hallway. He caught her eye as she frowned and turned her nose up at him, and couldn't help but smirk back at her. "She's pretty weird."

"I heard that!" Another slam of a door.

"Looks like at least she found the bathroom," Kristoff snerked with a roll of his eyes. "I can't believe you _really_ suggested setting me up with… that."

Elsa hit him in the arm, frowning. "Be nice."

Rolling his shoulders, Kristoff turned to walk towards the doorway, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder. "Good luck with her, Elsa. I have a feeling you're going to need it." He cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out to the back of the apartment. "See ya around, Red! I hope you get those warm hugs!"

The door cracked open, her mouth peeking out through the opening. "Shut up!"

He laughed again, waving at the smaller blonde and walking out the door. Barely thirty seconds passed before Anna stormed out of the room down the hall. "Your friend is a jerk, Elsa!"

"He's not, he's just -"

"Who is _he_," she started, sitting down on a kitchen chair with a huff, "to judge _me_. His hair was all long and messy and he _obviously_ hasn't shaved and he kind of smelled like a _wet dog_ -"

"Anna he -"

"And god, I thought he was kind of cute at first but then he opened his _mouth_."

"He's -"

"He's awful!" she finished, her arms over her head, hands fisted in frustration.

Elsa chuckled behind her hands. "Anna, really. He's a wonderful person. Just… a little rough around the edges."

Mumbling under her breath, the red head rolled her eyes. "That's putting it lightly." She sighed, tugged at her freshly plaited hair and turned to her older sister with a pout. "Do I have to see him again?"

"Oh, come on, Anna. He's my best friend. Yes you do." Elsa moved to sit beside the pouting girl. "It'll be fine. I'll tell him to be nicer. Promise." She couldn't help but laugh as Anna huffed again, slumping further down into the couch.

When Anna's stomach growled, Elsa smiled and made way to the kitchen. "Come on, I'll fix you something to eat. Then we can get you unpacked, okay?"

With one more sigh and a deep frown, Anna stood to move towards the fridge. "Okay. But I don't want to see his stupid face ever again."


	3. Chapter 2

When Elsa came in through the doorway, she was greeted by a pajama-clad Anna sitting cross legged on the couch with a box of sugary cereal in her lap. "Heeey," she mumbled through a full mouth before turning her attention back to the television. "How was your day?"

The blonde sat down with a heavy sigh. "Long. But I finished what I had to finish. The client picked it up already." She paused for a moment to run a hand down her face. "But I have to go to the gala tonight. They said they," her fingers made little air quotes as she spoke, "want the artist there."

Nodding, Anna kept her gaze locked on the television. "Sounds cool." Another mouthful of cereal. "I bet it'll be fun." Her eyes almost seemed glazed over as she let her head tilt and flop to the side.

"You can't just sit on the couch all day…"

"Says who?"

"Says me." Elsa stood, all but ripping the box from the red head's hands. "If you're staying here, you're not just sitting around moping, okay? Go out and do something." She tugged on Anna's hands, pulling her to her feet. "Starting now. Go shower. You're coming to the party with me."

"But _Elsa,_" Anna groaned, digging her heels into the carpet, "I won't _know _anyone."

"Isn't that part of the fun? Meeting people?" Elsa turned on her little sister, noticing her gnawing on her lower lip, her gaze turned down. "Are you okay?"

"Look, Elsa… I…" she murmured, twisting her fingers together. "I don't… I don't like meeting people at parties. I…" Elsa cocked her head to the side to listen as Anna continued. "I made a lot of bad choices after you left, okay? I got a… reputation."

The blonde smiled, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. "Anna, no one here _knows_ you. Whatever that reputation was, you left it back _there_." There was the unmistakable glisten of tears forming on her lower lash line, and Elsa wrapped strong arms around her shoulders. "I promise. That's the past, Anna. The _past_. You can be whoever you _want _to be here."

Anna sniffled, burying her face into her sister's shoulder. "Okay. Don't leave me alone, though."

"Come on," she grinned, pushing her sister back so she could take in her full face. "Let's get you cleaned up. I have the _perfect _dress for you. I bought it ages ago, but never wore it." And after a little convincing, Elsa left her sister to get cleaned up and prepared while she got herself ready.

After a shower, a quick blowout of her hair, and tucking it up into a soft, braided bun, Anna knocked cautiously on Elsa's door. "Can I come in?"

The door opened to reveal her light skinned sister clad in a floor length sheath silhouetted gown. It was an pale, icy blue, and hung off of one shoulder. The silver trim on the neckline curved around her breast, zig zagging down the side under her arm until it hit the mid-thigh high slit.

"Wow." Anna's jaw was hanging open. "Just… _wow._I didn't know… You look beautiful!"

Elsa blushed, opening the door fully and gesturing for her to come in. "Thank you, Anna. I found the one I wanted you to wear," she said, picking up her skirt to head over to the closet. "It's a little… fancier than I remembered but...

Reaching deep into her hung clothing, Elsa pulled out a floor length fishtail gown. It had black lace on the bodice, curling in soft curves around her bust. The deep, forest green faded into a lighter olive in the tulle of the skirt.

Anna was bouncing on her heels, grabbing eagerly at the gown. "Oh god. Oh my _god_it's so beautiful!" Holding it close to her face, she was practically hugging the garment before she ran off to get dressed as rapidly as she could.

xx

Within the hour, the sisters were walking up the stairs into the main room of the Gala.

Clutching nervously to her sisters' arm, Anna glanced around the beautifully decorated room. The whole event looked like it was purely decorated with _ice_. There were dangling crystals, a few diamonds, and it all led your eye into the ornate ice sculpture in the center of the room.

"Is _that_ what you did?" The red head's eyes were wider than dinner plates as she took in the intricate details. "Holy _cow_, Elsa… You're amazing!"

Elsa had a ruddiness to her face that the littler sister had never seen before. "Thank you," she muttered meekly, turning her gaze down to her toes. "I'll admit that I was nervous for you to see… I haven't shown them to anyone from the family yet."

Tugging on her sisters' arm, Anna made a beeline for the sculpture. "Can we see it up close? I really want to!"

Else grit her teeth and followed her sister, not really ready to take a fresh look at the sculpture. She hated coming to events because she always, without fail, would notice a horribly irritating error in her work. But her sister's awestruck expression and gentle fawning over the ice made her worries melt away.

"Elsa it's… It's so beautiful. How do you do this?" she asked, bottom lip trapped in her toothy smile. "How long does it take? Doesn't it melt? Doesn't the -"

"Whoa, Anna…" Elsa laughed, giving her sister a wink and a nudge away from the statue. "That is a lot of questions at once. I'll answer them another day, okay? You can come with me to my studio whenever you want."

Giving the blonde a nod, Anna smiled brightly and continued her trek to their table when a slender, red headed man stopped them in their tracks.

"Hello, Miss Arne."

She looked up at his sharp features and crooked smile, and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Her grip tightened on Elsa's arm as her sister straightened her posture.

"Good evening, Mister Westergard. I… I hope everything was how you wanted it."

He nodded, his hands raising to tighten his relatively loose tie. "Absolutely. Your work was flawless, as per usual. I would never trust another with these events."

Elsa sighed with relief, her shoulders slumping. "I'm so glad. I'd never want -"

"You're the client!" the red head cut in, almost a scream, bouncing on her feet. Their relationship had taken a little while to click in her head, and when it finally did, she had been excited to figure it out.

He laughed, cocking his head towards the younger girl. "Your sister, I presume?" He turned to face her, a smile stretching his cheeks, and held out a glove covered hand. "I'm Hans. And you're right, this is my event." Holding out her hand for a shake, Anna's face flushed as he lifted it to press a feather light kiss to the top of her knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you…"

"Anna," she cut in, an almost dreamy sigh whispering through slightly parted lips. "I'm Anna."

"Well, Anna," his voice lowered as if to speak only to her. "Would you care to dance with me?"

She bit her lip, glanced over to Elsa, who nodded. "Go on. Call me when you need me."

Anna lept forward, hugging her sister, and then moved to stand next to Hans. "Okay, let's dance."

She swooned in his arms as he placed down his glass of champagne and twirled her out, then back into his chest, catching her waist with his free hand. The music was slow, and he pulled her close enough that she could smell nothing but his light cologne. He led her gently, spinning her in tight circles and Anna couldn't help but cling tightly to his neck when he dipped her.

"So," he started, his cheek resting against her temple. "I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

"O-oh, me? Yeah." Anna bit at her lip again, moving her feet carefully with the rhythm. "I just moved in with my sister a few days ago. She wanted me to get out of the house so she _dragged _me here but hey it's not all bad because you're pretty gorgeous I -"

Hans laughed, warm and bright, as she rambled on.

"Wait, what?" Anna leaned partially back and away from the businessman, blushing intensely. "That was _totally_ inappropriate I am so_, so _ sorry!"

He smiled, twirled her under his arm before catching her in another dip. "It's fine, it's okay. For the record, you're quite gorgeous yourself."

Bursting out into almost hysterical laughter, Anna quickly pressed her lips together to suppress the chortling. "Me? No, oh god no. I'm just… I'm awkward. I'm -"

The song ended, and she was interrupted by the applause of the audience. She felt Hans' gaze on her, and he smiled as she looked up at him. "Come on, Let's go for a walk in the gardens. I'm sure you'll love them."

Blushing from her cheeks to her chest, an enchanted haziness fell over her face, and she nodded, hooking her small hand through his arm.

The rest of the night almost felt like a dream as he led her around, told her about himself and his family.

"_Twelve _brothers? That's… That's so many!" she had gasped, her mouth agape. "How… Wow."

He laughed and nodded. "Yeah. It _is_ a lot! And three of them pretended I didn't exist for _two _years! We've since worked it out, but I'm definitely not as close with them as I'd like to be."

Anna nodded picking at her finger tips. "I… I understand. I mean, Elsa and I are trying to get close again but… We haven't spoken in five years before now. It's hard… I'm so nervous about screwing up again. I don't know..." She gulped, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "I don't know what I did before… but I'm so scared of screwing up. I'm scared of her leaving me again."

He reached forward, grasping her hands in his, and smiled. "How could anyone ever leave _you_?"

She blushed, glancing down. Anna liked how warm his hand was around hers.

As they passed through the gardens, he would occasionally pluck a flower here and there, eventually spinning them all together into a small bouquet. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she giggled, taking the arrangement into her other hand.

They talked briefly of her past, she told him how her parents had passed, and he expressed his condolences, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She told him about her travels, how she had already been almost everywhere she wanted to go. He told her about his work being far too time consuming for him to go anywhere too far - but he _had _been to Norway, and it was his favorite place so far.

Anna confessed that she hadn't exactly had the most _pleasant_ time from age seventeen to right before she moved, that she had been constantly used and manipulated by men who only wanted sex and a toy. How she figured that it was all she was worth. She was _just _Anna, after all. She didn't deserve any more than she had gotten.

"What do you mean, _just _Anna? I think… I think you're pretty spectacular."

When they reached the fountain in the middle of the garden, Hans smiled and offered her a seat beside him on the stone. "Anna… I know this may be a little crazy…" She laughed, leaning into him to nudge him with her shoulder. "But… Would you like to go out with me? I mean, on a proper date. I've…"

A smile brighter than the full moon they were under stretched across her cheeks and she lunged forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "Oh god, _yes_! I didn't think you were going to ask I was so _nervous _that you weren't going to and -"

He grabbed her cheeks in his palms and pressed his lips against hers to stop her rambling.

"I think we should head back…" he mumbled against her mouth, a smirk tugging at his own. "Your sister might start to worry."

Anna nodded, eyes fluttering in a haze of pure bliss. "Yeah…"

Before long, Anna was all but pulling Hans through the party, his eyes locking with everyone they passed. "Elsa! Elsa~!" she was calling out in front of her, sprinting forward when she caught sight of her familiar platinum head of hair. She practically skid to a stop in front of her sister, all smiles and heavy breathing.

She turned back to Hans briefly, giggling and smiling brightly as he glanced around the room. "Well, Hans," the red head sighed, squeezing his arm in hers once more. "Thank you _so _much for a really, really wonderful evening."

Tilting his head down towards her, Hans smirked. "Of course, Anna. I look forward to setting up our next… outing." With a gentle kiss to her cheek, Hans bid his farewells and left to talk to, who Anna presumed to be, other clients or colleagues of his.

Startled, the red head turned to her sister whose hand was suddenly on her shoulder. "I guess you had a good night?" Elsa started, a laugh teasing at her lips.

"Oh my _gosh_, Elsa. It was…" She sighed, leaning against her sister. "It was just amazing. Did you know how _amazing_ he is? How… Just _so _amazing!"

The blonde chuckled behind her hand, turning to lead her swooning sister towards the door. "Sounds pretty _amazing… _Come on, the party is over. Let's go home and you can tell me all about your magical evening."


	4. Chapter 3

Anna sighed as she left the apartment complex on foot. She had looked it up before leaving, and the coffee shop that her sister had told her about was only a few blocks away - _totally_ walkable. Besides, a walk would be just the thing she needed to clear her mind after the rather _rough_ conversation she had had with Elsa the night before.

Her older sister had seemed a little nervous for the red head when she was telling the story of the night, about how Hans had all but literally swept her off of her feet. About his asking her on a date.

"_Anna…" Elsa had protested, twisting her fingers together. "You… you barely know him. I…_ I _barely know him. I just don't think -"_

"_But how else am I supposed to get to know him?"_

Anna stopped short, stomping her foot down and crossing her arms over her chest. Elsa was being ridiculous, right? Isn't the _purpose_ of going on dates to get to know one another? Besides, if he were _bad_, she would have seen it. But there was no way that someone that sweet and kind and _charming_ could be bad!

With a shake of her head, she started walking again. "Okay…" she mumbled to herself, tapping her chin. "She said two blocks straight… then one to the left, maybe?… or was it three straight then to the right and …" Anna groaned, pulling at her plaits. "Whatever. I'll find it."

She took determined steps forward, walking with purpose and humming silly little tunes to herself the whole time. It's not like she should be upset about Elsa's concern - she didn't even know Hans! Everything was _fine_, and she couldn't wait to get to know him better.

Besides, what did Elsa know about dating or relationships, anyway? She had never dated anyone, as far as Anna knew, and she was completely content with just walking away from her _family_. If Anna didn't _know _anyone, it was her sister!

Gnawing at her lip, the red head continued walking. It had been a few days and sure, they were _pretending _like everything was fine, like they were still best friends, but… She didn't know her at _all_. She probably knew Hans better after a few hours than she knew Elsa after a _week_.

Anna wiped at her misty eyes, and looked around her surroundings. How long had she been walking? "Okay now… I …" She bit at her nails and tried desperately to recognize one of the street signs - _anything_ would do. Had she taken turns without even realizing it?

"Oh boy…"

Stretching her arms up over her head, she laughed a full, desperate laugh. "Okay! Well! Just keep walking, Anna. It's probably this way or… Or that…"

She continued walking with her hands up over her head, humming a tune familiar to herself as she developed a small skip in her step. "Makin' my way downtown -" she started, closing her eyes and stepping in rhythm to the song. "Walkin' fast, faces pass, and I'm-"

"Hey!"

Anna cut herself off with a "Hm?", turning to face the street where an old, rusted pick up truck was stopped. She took a few nervous steps backwards before looking in the drivers side window. There sat the big, broad, blond that was her sisters' best friend.

"Oh. It's you," she grumbled, turning to keep on walking down the street.

Kristoff chuckled, driving slowly alongside her on the fairly empty road. "Yep. And it's _you_. Now that we've got _that_ out of the way… I'm shocked to see you around town." He slammed on the brake as Anna whipped her head around to face him. "Elsa said you were a bit of a shut in."

"I am _not_ a shut in," she hollered, throwing up air quotes around her words. "I just… don't know anyone… or where anything is." An idea hit her, and she lept forward, running across the road to his car. "Hey!"

He cocked an eyebrow at her and leaned back towards the passengers seat. "Hi…?"

"Elsa told me about this coffee shop slash bakery thing she loves and I was wondering if you could take me there because I'm a little lost but I wanted to get her a treat to apologize for being so snappy with her last night - oh because last night I met this _really_ _amazing_ guy, and she's nervous about me dating him and -"

"Whoa there," Kristoff chuckled, throwing a hand up in front of her face. "First off, I don't take people places. Second, I don't really care about this _amazing_ guy." He recalled the frustrated texts from his best friend last night and figured he'd get the more concise story from her later. No need to listen to the airheaded younger sister prattle on and _on._

"...Wow."

"What?"

Anna crossed her arms over her chest, turning her nose up to the shaggy blond man - though she _did_ have to admit that with a cleanly shaved face and his hair trimmed back he _was_ pretty cute. "You're just as rude as I thought you were."

He flexed his hands on the steering wheel and let out a single breathy laugh. "Yep. You got me."

Laughing bitterly, Anna turned her head back to glance at him through the corner of her eye. "Let me guess; You're an incredibly grumpy guy who hates people and likes being alone."

"I'm _not_ alone," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I've got _friends_."

"Who, my sister?" she retorted, lifting one arm to point an accusatory finger at the blond. "And by the way I meant to ask about that. Are you guys like, a _thing_?" The sudden burst of laughter from Kristoff knocked her back, and she shook her head from shock. "_What_?"

"Me and… Phew! Me and Elsa are," he waved his hands in front of his chest in protest, "most _definitely_ _not_ a thing…"

"Well why not?"

He wiped at his cheeks with his hands, his cheeks burning with his long smile and laughter. "Let's just say… we're not one anothers _types_."

Anna glared at him, but recrossed her arms. "Whatever. Anyway, can you take me there?"

Rolling his eyes, Kristoff shrugged. "Fine." Nodding his head towards the passenger side, he continued. "Get in."

Anna let out a little squeal as she ran around the front of his truck and quickly hoisted herself up into the cab. "All right! Off we go! I… Oh. I…" she turned to look at him and rubbed nervously at the back of her neck. "I don't remember the name of it…"

Kristoff rolled his eyes again, pressing two fingers to the middle of his forehead. "You're hopeless. Shouldn't you have brought a map or something?" Sighing and switching his car into drive, he risked one more glance over at her. "You're lucky I know what her favorite bakery is."

She slumped down in her seat, placing her hand on her knees. She didn't know her sister at all, did she? Anna wasn't even sure what she was planning to buy for her… and even worse, she had to put up with this jerk for longer than necessary… "Yeah, lucky… that's me."

All he did was give her a sideways glance to acknowledge how weird he thought she was suddenly being before continuing the drive over to the shop. As he turned corners and made his way around, Anna couldn't help but laugh at just _how_ lost she had gotten. It was _ridiculous_!

When they pulled up in front of the bakery, Anna smirked. "Wow. I was… way off."

Kristoff laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah. Yes you were. Anyway…" he shrugged, putting the car into park. "So here you go. You can get out of my car now."

She bit her lip, twisting her fingers together, and turned to face him. "S-sorry… One more thing, actually…" The blond interjected with a groan. "I'm sorry! I just… What does she like?"

Dropping his head to tap against the steering wheel, Kristoff groaned. "Be nice. Be nice…" He rolled his shoulders and killed the engine, turning to get out of his car. "Come on. I have a feeling you'll forget if I just tell you."

The red head's brows knit together as her pouting intensified, and she slid out of the car. "You have such little faith in me, Christopher."

"Holy shit, it's _Kristoff._ Why can't you _remember_ that?" He turned to face a smirking Anna, and frowned. "What?"

"It was a joke, grumpy pants."

He took a deep breath, rubbing his fingers against his forehead. "Elsa just _had_ to have an _annoying_ little sister, didn't she? And I just _had_ to be nice and pull over and not just drive by, didn't I?" Anna cocked an eyebrow at him as he threw his hands up in the air. "Good god, she had _no idea_ what my car looked like! It wouldn't have _mattered_!"

She reached forward and grabbed at his wrist. "Okay, crazy. Come on, let me buy you a coffee, or something."

After waiting in line and ordering drinks - Anna wasn't even close to being surprised that he just liked black coffee, and Kristoff was hardly phased that she got a hot chocolate in the middle of summer - the pair sat down at a relatively secluded table off to the side of the cafe. "Okay…" she watched him take a sip and sigh. "Better?"

Kristoff groaned behind his cup, his eyes narrowing at the red head. "You're pretty annoying, you know that?"

Shrugging, she blew gently on her hot drink. "You're no walk in the park, either." But his brown eyes barely caught the frown and small sniffle that Anna let slip. Was that too mean?

They continued to sit in silence for a few moments, Kristoff staring and Anna keeping her eyes on the table, chewing on her bottom lip. He sighed, placed his cup down on the table and gestured vaguely with his hands. "So what happened?"

"What?"

"With Elsa and this… guy."

"Oh!" Anna perked up, also placing her cup down on the table. "Yeah right so. We got home from a party -"

Kristoff leaned forward, propping his chin into his hand. He had a feeling that this was going to be a _long_ story…

" - and for most of the night I had been spending some time with this guy, right?"

The blond nodded, took a sip of his coffee, and let her continue. He briefly wondered if it were anyone that he knew before tuning back into her chatter.

Anna took a deep breath. "So I was telling her about how we danced a lot and he took me out into the _gardens_ and it was just _so romantic_. Like," she paused, tapping her finger against her chin. "Like he told me that he thought I was beautiful and amazing or something and he gave me flowers!"

Rolling his eyes, Kristoff shifted to place his palms flat on the table. "Sounds… artificial."

Blue eyes narrowed at the man and she crossed her arms over her chest. "It was _amazing_. _Anyway_. So he took me to the center of the garden and we sat by this fountain and he _asked me out_ and Elsa just got _so mad_ about it and I -"

"Wait," he interjected, lifting an eyebrow at her as she glared again. "How long were you with him?"

"Like… three hours!"

"And you're going on a date with him."

"Yeah?"

"Alone?"

"... Yeah?"

Kristoff glanced around the cafe again, cracking his neck and leaning forward. "You should probably get to know him as a friend before you _date_ him."

Throwing her arms into the air, Anna groaned. "That's what Elsa said!" Her voice lowered to a grumble. "No wonder you guys are best friends."

"I'm just _saying _that-"

"Whatever. You don't know him. I think dating is a _great_ way to get to know someone. Anyway so then before we left the fountain he _kissed_ me!" She ended with a wide smirk and an almost squeal with her hands fisted together in front of her chest.

Kristoff's eyes widened as he pressed his fingers to the side of his face. "Are you kidding me? Now I gotta know. What's his name? This sounds fake."

Anna grinned, eyes fluttering dreamily. "Hans."

Basically choking on his coffee, Kristoff wiped at his mouth. "Sorry. What's his last name?"

"Uh… Win… Wat…. West..."

"Westergard?"

"That's it! Wait how do you know-"

Kristoff waved a hand in front of his face and coughed again. "Just know of him. He's a big name around town. I just... Uh…" He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck. Hans didn't exactly have the best reputation, but he wondered if it was his place to say anything about it.

"Anyway yeah," Anna continued, and he took in a deep breath of relief. "So I told Elsa that I was going out with him and she got _so mad_ because I barely knew him, you know?"

"Yeah, I do know." Kristoff placed both hands behind his head and stretched backwards. "Look you, uh, you _really_ don't know him." He met her annoyed gaze with one that matched her intensity. Sighing, he shrugged before grabbing for his coffee again. "Get to know him before you jump into a relationship with him, is all I'm saying."

Uncrossing her arms, the red head leaned forwards and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "That's what _dating_ is for. Duh."

He rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair again, choosing to change the subject. She obviously wasn't going to listen, and _he _had no desire to try and get through her thick skull. "All right, it's getting late," he started, standing up and towering over the sitting girl. "I have to get going. Do you need a ride home?"

Anna's lips flapped open and closed for a few moments, before she lifted a finger and took in a deep breath. "...Yes."

He snorted a soft laugh and rubbed at his eye.

"Please!" she finished, standing beside him, skipping towards the door. He nodded, following closely behind her. He flipped out his phone as he walked, shooting off a quick text to Elsa.

_[I just spent a good two hours with your sister. She's nuts.]_

_[Oh, be nice.]_

_[Is she really going out with Hans?]_

_[... Let's not talk about that.]_

_[I don't think it's my place to say anything but…]_

_[Maybe he's changed, Kristoff. I trust her judgement.]_

_[I don't.]_

Anna peeked her head back through the door, glancing up at the blond. He felt a strange blush coat his cheeks at the way her wide blue eyes stared up at him. "Are you coming?"

Wiping at his face, Kristoff nodded and stepped through the door.

The drive was short and quiet - at least on his end. Anna hadn't stopped her nervous chatter since they sat down, but the blond had found himself learning how to sort of tune her out. She had talked a little bit about her friends from home (or lack thereof… Kristoff couldn't really remember), and how all she wanted was to find true love (he couldn't help but laugh at that one). He joked about how she should meet his family, because they _loved_ to talk about true love.

They both blushed and shut up after he said that. Anna had never had someone even suggest the idea of her meeting their family before. She had never gotten that close to anyone. Even if he didn't mean it, it struck a chord within her.

When they finally pulled up to the curb, Anna made quick work of getting out of his car, moving to hastily slam the door shut behind her before Kristoff spoke.

"Ah, wait…" he held out a hand to her. "Give me your phone."

"What…?" Anna touched at her pocket delicately, narrowing her eyes in his direction.

"Calm down, princess. I'm going to give you my number -" her eyes widened and he ran his other hand through his hair. "In case you get lost again. I mean, uh, I'm off more of the day than Elsa is…" He coughed and tugged on his collar as the redhead placed her phone into his hand.

"But this is only for emergencies," he finished, punching in the number and handing the slim phone back to her tiny hands. "_Emergencies_," he repeated, watching carefully as she nodded with understanding.

"Th… thank you," Anna stammered, staring at his name in her phone.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"I… know…"

"Bye, Anna."

She blinked and stepped backwards from the door, closing it and waving with one hand. Kristoff lifted a hand in farewell and drove off, fighting the blush rising to his own cheeks. Why had he given her his damn number? She could have asked Elsa to call him if she needed it! He groaned and dropped his head onto the steering wheel as he came to a stop, banging his forehead against the wheel. Now she was probably just going to drive him even _more_ crazy.

Anna watched his truck skid around the corner and turned quickly to run back up to the apartment, immediately kicking off her shoes and sitting in the center of the plush couch. Why had he given her his number? She knew he said it didn't mean anything… But _no one _would give their number to someone they _hated_, right?

Did that mean that maybe they could be friends?

Maybe…

Anna blushed, and looked at his name in her phone again.

Kristoff Bjorgman.

Friends? Could they be friends?

She smiled, and pressed her face into her knees.

She'd like a friend.


	5. Chapter 4

_[ Hey Kristoff - Do you mind swinging by the apartment at some point today? My dishwasher is still broken. Landlord is being an ass again. ]_

_[ You got it ice queen. You gonna be there? ]_

_[ No, I'm in the studio all day. But Anna will be home. ]_

_[ …. Greaaaat. ]_

_[ Be nice. ]_

_[ I was very nice. I'm not too excited by the idea of spending time alone with your little sister. Got enough of that last week. ]_

_[ Please? ]_

_[ … Ugh, fine. You owe me. ]_

_[ Always do, Kristoff. ]_

Elsa smirked to herself as she flipped open the novel on her desk in the studio. So what if she had told a little white lie? She wanted her best friend and her sister to get to know one another. The dishwasher would take at least three hours to fix, test run, and clean up. That was plenty of time for them to be stuck together to find _something_ they had in common, right?

Nodding firmly, her icy blue eyes focused on the words in front of her.

xx

Anna pulled the comforter over her head to block out the sunlight that was pouring in through the wide open windows. Her sister refused to get her any _decent_ curtains out of fear of her closing them and sleeping through the day, so she figured that the blanket would have to do. Until it got stuffy and hard to breathe under there.

With a groan, she sat up, stretching her arms over her head and running flat palms down her nest of hair. She rubbed at her sleep-crusted eyes and stifled a yawn before noticing the little blue light blinking on her phone. Who on earth would text her before ten?

Detaching it from the wall and clicking on the screen, Anna whined when she saw her sisters' picture flashing on the lock screen. Her text was short as usual.

"Sorry, Anna," the redhead mocked, swiping her thumb up the screen. "Studio today. Don't go anywhere. Maintenance at some point."

She sighed and flopped backwards on the bed, her pillows flattening with small _puffs_ of air under her head. This was sure to be a boring day, and she knew it. No Elsa. No leaving the apartment…

Sitting up with a huff, Anna tapped a finger against her chin. Well… at least without her naggy big sister here she would have _whatever_ she wanted for breakfast! Chocolate chip pancakes doused with whipped cream it was!

Anna darted out of bed, tip toed over to her drawers where she had been hiding a few sweet treats (... okay, maybe it was a whole drawer full), and pulled out her overly large bag of chocolate chips and an unopened can of whipped cream. Elsa did keep pancake mix in the kitchen, but it was _wheat_ and she would make them plain and chop bananas up on top and _ugh_.

She grabbed for her speakers and her iphone (because what good was an empty apartment if she didn't take advantage and blast her music?) and strutted out towards the main room of the apartment. Making quick work of setting up her music on the dining table, and turning it onto her favorite play list, the redhead took dancey steps back into the small kitchenette.

With determination in her eyes, Anna looked for everything she might need - bowls, measuring cups, spoons, forks, a whisk, maybe? "Better safe than sorry," she mumbled as she glanced through all of the cabinets for the elusive pancake mix. It was when she saw it on the highest shelf of the cabinet that she almost gave up.

She honestly had no idea where the step ladder was, and, with a sigh, moved to stand up on top of the tiny counter edge to reach it. Laughing to herself, she held on to the cabinet with shaky hands - yeah, this was going to end well…

xx

Kristoff groaned as he pulled up to Elsa's apartment, killing the engine and running a frustrated hand down his face. It was the weekend! How on _earth_ does his best friend always manage to get him to come do her maintenance for her? And why can't she just call her damn landlord?

Rolling his neck, the blond sighed and moved to get out of his truck. Not only did she use him for his fix-it skills, she was also trapping him into at _least_ three hours with… _her_. That damn overly perky redhead who didn't know when to stop talking. Was he seriously about to sit with her for _three _hours? He had already regretted giving her his number.

Every day, he got at least one text from her. He rarely replied - After all, he _had_ specified that it was for _emergencies only_. Plus, they were dumb, cutesy little texts asking him if his day went well. Calling him a 'grumpus', whatever the hell _that _was, whenever he actually responded. She'd send him pictures, sometimes, of Elsa doing things. But when he had asked her to stop, she looked so heartbroken that he just decided to suck it up and deal with it.

And Elsa was asking him to _be nice_? Well, he thought he was _plenty_ nice.

He heard loud music blaring when he finally reached the door, and groaned again. Really? Really. He had a feeling she listened to top forties pop music, and all of his suspicions were confirmed when he put the key in the lock and opened the door to yet _another_ radio favorite switching on. When Kristoff heard a creak in the kitchen, he knew it was going to be a little while before he could get in there anyway, so he dropped his toolbox and bag at the front door.

Figuring it would be best to go say hello, the blond made his way to the kitchen, shoulders slumped and head already pounding. He kept most of his body hidden around the corner, and ducked his head in to make an appearance. But he froze, his eyes widening and a light blush forming over his cheeks and nose.

Anna's short form was stretched to its' limit, one arm outstretched and reaching for the top shelf of the cabinet, her baggy shirt lifting just enough to give him a peek of her behind. The bottom of her butt was clearly visible, only enhanced by the cute frilly white trim of her panties. He knew he should look away, but… he couldn't deny she was _cute_. And…

He cursed himself for his racing mind, trying desperately to tear his eyes away as she climbed up onto the counter, giving him a much fuller view of her underwear.

"Holy shit."

The redhead gasped, turned on her heel and yelped as she lost her footing, slipping from the counter. Kristoff didn't even realize he had reacted until he was holding her bridal style, her hands clinging to his shirt and face buried into his shoulder, while his fingers were pressing firmly against the bare skin of her thighs.

Both their chests were heaving as she lifted her head slowly, turned her eyes up to face him… and blushed deeply when she felt her nose brush against his, his heavy breaths kissing her lips. "Th… thank you," she mumbled, loosening her grip on his shirt.

"Y-yeah…" His voice was just as strained as her as he realized just exactly how much of her he was touching - one hand pressed into the roundness her her upper thigh, the other wrapped around her back, fingertips lightly brushing against the side of her breast… He coughed, tried to ignore the blush rising up his neck, and made a move to set her down on the tiles. "What were you doing up there?"

Anna stepped back slowly when her feet touched the ground, letting go of his shirt and looking down. "I… wanted pancakes. Elsa keeps the mix up on the top shelf for some dumb…" Realization slapped in the face and she suddenly looked up with furrowed brows, as she tugged downward on her T-shirt. "Wait, were you staring at my butt?!"

"W-what?!" Kristoffs' face grew darker, his hand leaving her back to rub nervously at the back of his neck. "Wh… why on _earth_ would you think that? Y-you almost killed yourself anyway! Sh-shouldn't you be m-more focused on that?!"

Anna snapped forward and raised a hand, her pointer finger wagging in front of his face. "A-ha! You're not _denying_ it! You were _totally_ staring at my butt!" A smirk teased at her lips as she failed to keep an aggravated expression on her face. shifting, she crossed her arms across her chest, forcing her shirt to lift just a fraction higher on her thighs.

Kristoff struggled not to look downward.

"I mean…" she started, twisting her hips to glance down at her own behind. "It's a pretty cute butt… I don't really _blame _you."

"I was _not_ staring at your butt!" His hands were tangled in his hair, face ruddy as ever and eyes wide. "I'm… I'm here to fix your damn dishwasher and… you were just _there_ with your underwear hanging all out and then you _climbed up _on the stupid counter and what were you even _thinking_?!"

She paused and stared at him. "I… I was thinking about pancakes."

He blinked. Once. Twice. Then burst out laughing, hard enough that he had to wrap his arms around his middle to keep from falling over. "You… you're interesting, Anna. You want pancakes bad enough to risk your life?"

Leaning backwards and standing with arms akimbo, Anna frowned at him. "Well I would have been perfectly safe if not for _you_ scaring the daylights out of me!"

His expression shifted more towards one of confusion as she continued.

"What are you doing, just walking into other peoples' apartments and sneaking up on them like that?" A pout. "Huh?"

Kristoff couldn't help himself but snerk under his breath at her. "I have a key. I come over all the time. It's not my fault you were…"

They stared at one another before both cracking a smile. Anna shrugged, pushed all of her utensils and ingredients into a corner and carefully stepped around him. "Well. You get to work, maintenance man. I'm gonna go put on some pants. Maybe you'll be less of a pervert if I cover my butt up!"

He couldn't help but stare after her as she leaped over the cords and disappeared into her room. Maybe he could stand to be around her just a little more…

Suddenly he burst out into a coughing fit, wiping at his face with one hand and pounding a fist against his chest. No. Nope. He was _not_ allowed to have any sort of positive thoughts about Anna. It… no! She was irritating and far too peppy and sweet and freaking _adorab-_

"Ugh!"

Stomping back out to the living room, Kristoff snatched his tools off the ground and moved quickly to set up an area around the dishwasher. He was just… titillated. That was it. He wasn't actually starting to _like_ her. She was just…

… fairly attractive.

Yep.

That was it.

Kristoff groaned, unlocked his toolbox, and pulled out everything he thought he might need, and got to work. She said it hadn't been draining - that it just poured out all over her kitchen floor. He didn't think it would be too hard of a fix and hoped to get in and out of here as quickly as he could possibly manage. Especially when she came prancing back out with her hair tied up in a messy bun and…

"Those are pants?" he asked, disbelief all over his face.

She stared at him, pulled her loose tank top up to look down and frowned. "They're… just compression shorts, I think?"

His cheeks were burning red again. Those little black shorts were skin tight and barely covered to her mid thigh. How was _that_ better than underwear?

God, he really had to stop thinking about her in her underwear.

"Fine. Just… don't bug me. I'm working."

He kept his eyes locked onto the work in front of him, missing the way her face fell.

Anna frowned and took shuffling steps to the living room before plopping down on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest. What on earth had gotten into him? One minute, they were finally calm and joking and then… what? Was he so annoyed at having to touch her that he chose instead to resent her?

The only noise in the house was the sound of his tools grinding on the metal of the innards of the washing machine, as Anna was too distracted to even turn on the television. He seemed to run so hot and cold - sometimes he was happy to talk to her, others he was cold and incredibly grumpy. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just accept that they were going to have to talk to one another and just be… steadily civil, at least!

Anna jumped when the couch dipped under his weight settling down next to her.

"Done?" she asked, sitting up on her knees to face him.

Nodding, Kristoff tilted his head back to lay on the cushion. "I hope so. Running it now to see." He held out a box with one hand, and smirked over towards the redhead. "Said you wanted pancakes?"

She bounced forward, snatching the box out of his hands and squeaked. "Thank you!"

Before the blond had a chance to react she had jumped over the back of the couch and moved to the kitchen, and he couldn't help but laugh at the clanging of pans and bowls. "Need any help?" he called over his shoulder, wincing when he heard a small scream as a bowl crashed to the ground. "... I'll take that as a yes?"

When she didn't reply, he got up with a groan and made his way to the kitchen. "Anna?" He paused when he came around the corner and finally caught sight of her - she was standing, frozen, with an empty box in her hand, the bag of pancake mix spilled out all over the room, and white powder completely covering her from head to toe.

Her blue eyes turned up to look at him, and he pressed his lips together, eyebrows raising high on his forehead.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"M'not laughing."

When she frowned, her lower lip sticking out in a pout, he broke. Laughter spilled out of him like an avalanche and he couldn't stop.

"Stop!" she whined, stomping her foot and tensing her arms by her sides. "It's not funny!"

"It's…" another laugh. "It's pretty funny!"

Taking in a big huff of air, Anna bent down, scooped up two giant handfuls of the mix and chucked it as hard as she could towards his face.

That shut him up.

He blew a puff of powder out of his mouth, blinked a couple times, and then locked his eyes onto her. "Really? You wanna go there?"

Anna stood still as Kristoff stalked towards her, pressing her back up against the counter. She gulped when his hands landed on either side of her, blushing furiously under the white coating on her face. "Y-yes?"

Smirking, he reached behind her. "Well then." Leaned forward just a little more. "You've started a war."

Her eyes widened and her jaw fell open as he quickly cracked an egg over her head, stepping back and laughing hysterically as the whites dripped down the side of her face. She couldn't deny she was thankful for the white coating on her face. If not for that, she was positive he would see the vermillion of her cheeks.

"And here I was…" she struggled to mumble, grabbing for a dish towel to wipe the egg off her face. "... Thinking you were going to kiss me."

She smiled as she had managed to shut him up yet again.

Kristoff simply cocked a brow at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you think that?"

A shrug. "I guess I'm just a romantic. Most of the time this kind of situation leads to…" she gave him a small smirk. "...Pretty good making out, you know?"

"Huh." He watched her as she let her hair loose, and started wiping the yolk out with the towel. "Thought you had a boyfriend."

She glanced up, pausing her hands and puckered her lips in thought. "He's not my boyfriend." Kristoff's shoulders visibly relaxed and she continued pulling the towel through her hair. "We haven't even been on a proper date yet."

It was a pretty easy choice, the blond decided, between getting out some built up frustration (it _had_ been _years_, after all, since he kissed anyone) or sitting on the couch ignoring her. Plus, even _he_ couldn't deny that getting a view of her bottom had been a pretty nice preview.

With a grunt, Kristoff stepped forward and tugged the towel out of her hands. She glanced up, irritation on her face. "Hey! What are you-"

_Oh._

There was no hesitation between them, their mouths fitting together in a new way she hadn't experienced before. Sure, she had kissed Hans… but it was sweeter, gentler. And she had kissed plenty of other men, but those were strangers. Then, it was… sloppy. Kristoff was rough around the edges, and it showed through in every action he performed. But he was clean, deliberate. Everything he did had a purpose.

He pressed her back up against the counter again, his hands wrapping around her waist and lifting her to sit on the ledge. They pressed closer together, her hands wrapping around his broad shoulders, dragging across his worn flannel. When he nipped at her lips, begging for permission to continue further, she couldn't help but hum into his mouth, a smile tugging at her cheeks.

Large hands gripped firmly onto her hips, pulling her further forward on the ledge to press her thighs tighter to his hips. There was a pause for breath, small moans dancing between them as he ducked his head down to latch his lips onto her throat. The redhead caught her lip between her teeth and groaned.

Who would've known that this would happen? Wasn't he being a grump just a few minutes ago? Sometimes he seemed so cold and distant… But how his hands slid over her back, how his mouth moved against her skin was just so _warm_ in every sense of the word. And when he pulled away, everything felt suddenly chilly. Anna swallowed hard, and lifted her eyes to meet his, inquiring for an answer.

Kristoff just grinned. "You taste like pancakes."

Bursting out into a fit of giggles, Anna nodded. "I suppose I would. You do, too."

He sighed, and took a step back. "I'm…" the blond was suddenly bashful. "I'll get carried away. You're…" He gave her a sheepish grin. "...Pretty much exactly my type so."

"So…?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kristoff shrugged. "I… would feel bad."  
Anna bit at her lip. "Well… I'll stop you. I… want to kiss you mo-"

They both turned towards the door as the sound of a key entering the lock echoed through the apartment. After turning rather dopey smiles towards one another, he helped her hop down from the counter and they stood side by side waiting for Elsa to see them. She didn't say anything about his bag being on the floor or the silence of the apartment as she walked in, in fact, she even wound up walking right past the kitchen at first.

Until she stopped dead in her tracks, took three steps backwards, and turned on the balls of her feet to face the two not-so innocent people standing over the threshold.

"...What happened," she sighed as she took in their powder covered bodies and the mess on the floor. "Do I even want to know?"

"We were making pancakes," Kristoff started, gesturing with his hands in front of his chest.

Anna cut in, mumbling. "And I dropped the box. We were just about to clean up-"

"Yeah," he waved, rolling his eyes. "Don't even worry about us. Give us 20 minutes to clean up and then-"

"We can watch a movie!"

Kristoff glanced down at Anna, smiling. "Yep," he turned his head back to Elsa. "Watch a movie."

Elsa's mouth was still in a straight, pursed line as her pale blue eyes scanned over them. Maybe they thought she was stupid, but she didn't fail to notice that the only places that _weren't_ coated in the white mix were their lips, their noses, and a little trail on Anna's throat that led to a circle where a light blue was blooming under her skin.

"... Fine."

She walked away, a smile curving on her lips.

Anna and Kristoff just snickered quietly between themselves, happy that her sister had left unaware.


	6. Chapter 5

Elsa couldn't help but laugh to herself as she closed the door to her room. Did they think she was stupid? Setting her bag down next to her desk, she sighed and gathered up some order forms she had to sort and price before heading back out and down the hallway. She rolled her eyes at the giggling she could hear coming from the kitchen, and jumped when Anna darted around the corner.

"Oh! Hi Elsa!" Anna's face turned almost crimson as she dusted off her clothes.

Elsa smiled. "Hi, Anna. Going to get cleaned up?"

Anna nodded, a grin stretching her powdered cheeks. "Yup!"

"I…" The blonde lifted an eyebrow. "I see you already managed to… _clean_ a few places." She crossed her arms as Anna's smile dropped and her eyes widened. "Rather odd… To just get your nose and mouth, and…" Her blue eyes darted down to the redhead's neck. "That… trail on your throat."

It was almost hilarious how quickly Anna clamped a hand over the lightly bruising spot, coughing and laughing and rolling her eyes. "Whaaaat! Oh, wow. I… I cleaned my nose and mouth um… so… So I could breathe!" She threw a hand up above her head. "Ha, yep! Couldn't breathe with all that powder…"

They stared at one another in silence for a moment.

"And your neck?"

Silence.

"Must have…" Anna started sidestepping around her sister, backing up slowly into her room. "Must have just brushed it with the towel while wiping the egg out of my hair!"

"The egg was on the other -"

"Okay!" And her door slammed shut.

Elsa shook her head and laughed, taking the few more steps needed to round the corner to the small kitchen in the middle of the apartment. She noted a small pile of flour on the floor near the trash, and made a move to quickly shovel it all in. "So, Kristoff…" She started, bending down to scoop it up. "What on earth happened here?"

He laughed as he shrugged his flannel off of his shoulders, revealing a clean, gray, and rather tight t-shirt underneath. Throwing the last of the dishes into the sink before taking a damp towel to his face, Kristoff cleaned himself up as best he could. "Your sister is nuts, that's what happened." He leaned backwards against the counter and shook his head, amusement teasing at his features.

"I come in here, right, and she's _climbing_ on the counter trying to get to the damn pancake mix. And I guess I surprised her, she fell -"

Elsa dropped the dustpan in her hand and jerked her head to look at him.

"- I caught her. She's fine. No injuries, I promise." Running still powdery hands through his blond locks, Kristoff sighed. "So she moped around and I felt bad so I got her the pancake mix. Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the couch right, and I hear this loud crash. I come to check on her, and shes _covered _in the stuff!" The blond couldn't help but let out at awkward laugh as Elsa's eyes bore into him.

"... Right, anyway so… So I laugh at her, and she throws handfuls - and I mean, I thought she had _tiny_ hands but she sure can scoop up powder - she throws handfuls at me and covers _me_ with the stuff and then I cracked an egg on her head and…" He froze, swallowing his words and looking at the ceiling. "And then you came home! That's it."

Elsa nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's it?"

"Yep." He stood frozen.

Moving to run a finger over the counters and check the cleanliness, Elsa laughed. "She's still just as reckless as ever." She rubbed her fingers together, happy not to feel powder between them. "She has barely changed since we were kids… Except… She's much more beautiful now."

She almost heard Kristoff audibly gulp.

"I wouldn't know." He turned around to continue wiping at the counter top. "I… She's your little sister there's no way I've ever thought of her like that at all ever not a chance."

Her hands were on her hips as she turned to him. "I thought you had a thing for redheads, Kris. Just because she's my sister doesn't mean you _can't_."

"Nope I do not recall ever having a thing for short freckled redheads that's definitely not me must be your other best friend." He scrubbed harder.

Before Elsa had a chance to say anything more, Anna came bouncing back into the kitchen, pausing when her eyes landed on Kristoff's back, toned and clearly visibly through the thin, tight material of his shirt.

"Oh… hey…"

Elsa smirked. "Hi there."

Kristoff turned on his heel, jumping back when his eyes landed on Anna. "Hey." He felt his heart speeding up under his ribs, and did his best to try and compose himself. She was just in a tank top and sweatpants, with her hair twisted up into a bun, but something about that was driving him _crazy_.

He grunted to himself as he turned back to the sink and started hand washing the dishes. Scrubbing harder and harder in order to keep himself distracted. He couldn't think about how much he wanted to touch her again, feel her against him again, and -

"Well…" Anna's voice came from the behind the couch. "Do you guys have any preference for what movie we watch?"

Kristoff turned around to observe what he had missed. Apparently they had moved around quite a bit while he was distracting himself. Elsa was already sitting at the table with her order forms, scribbling notes and materials down, while Anna was shuffling through the movies on the shelves. Elsa gave a noncommittal shrug, and Kristoff just didn't respond.

He could picture Anna pouting.

"Fine! Well then I pick…" She shuffled around a little more, and giggled to herself. "This one! _Lilo and Stitch_! What a good movie!"

The redhead came bouncing out of the living room, latched onto Elsa's arm and tugged her out of her chair, dragged her to the couch and all but threw her down into the plush cushions. Kristoff barely had a chance to react before she was standing in front of him, her hands wrapped around his forearm, and her smile beaming up at him.

Damn it. He _really_ wanted to kiss her again. What the _hell_ was going on?

Letting her pull him to the couch, he begrudgingly agreed to sit on the other end of his best friend, and leaned over against the armrest, smiling behind his hand as Anna plopped down between them.

"This is one of my favorite Disney movies!"

The little redhead was bouncing excitedly between them, and Elsa was rolling her eyes, partially out of desire to be getting work done, and also because of trying to ignore how adorable her sister was. Kristoff gave them a small sideways glance, ignoring the way a blush rose to his cheeks when she smiled at him.

Soon the movie was playing, and Anna was completely engrossed in it. She was moving her mouth along with the words, shouting out some of the lines and giggling behind her hands.

Kristoff almost lost control when she pouted, her plush lips becoming even more obvious. He groaned and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, prompting Anna to turn her head to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Mhm."

Twisting around on the couch, Anna flopped backwards onto Elsa's lap, and threw her feet onto Kristoff's. "You guys are so quiiiiet!" she whined, pinching at Elsa's cheeks. "Why don't you talk more? Did something happen while I was in my bedroom?"

Anna watched with interest as Elsa smirked over at Kristoff, as he frowned and cocked an eyebrow back at her, and they both stayed silent.

"... What happened?"

"Nothing," Kristoff grunted, running his hands absentmindedly over her small feet and ankles. He was dying to touch her, and he had little control over his hands at this point.

"Seriously! Did you guys like kiss or something?" There was a minor hint of jealousy in her voice.

Elsa burst out laughing, shoved her sister off of her lap and stood up to walk back to the table and finish her work. "That's hilarious," she snorted, sitting down. "No, believe me. Kristoff and I haven't ever, and will never, kiss. Ever."

The redhead sat up, frowning, before flopping over onto Kristoff's lap. Kicking her feet up onto the now empty armrest, Anna couldn't help but grumble out an almost inaudible "good" before turning her attention back towards the movie.

Kristoff stiffened under her, whimpering lightly when her hand grabbed his, pulled it in front of her, and her dainty little fingers started playing with his calloused, much more thick ones. With slight hesitation, the blond started running his other hand up and down her upper arm, and relaxed into her touch. He couldn't deny that he liked how this felt. It felt… normal. Warm. Nice.

"You two sure are affectionate."

They both jumped at Elsa's voice, looking up at her leaning over the couch. She simply smirked down at them and laughed. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Kristoff stood quickly, grabbed his bag and muttered something about having to pick up Sven, and was out the door before either girl had a chance to react.

Elsa would have laughed if not for the concerned, upset expression slowly blossoming on Anna's face. She noted the way her sisters' jaw clenched, lips turned downward, eyebrows drew together, and placed a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Blue eyes turned up, and a smile stretched her cheeks. "Yep! Fine. Can we just finish the movie?"

With a nod, Elsa sat back down beside her sister, letting her lay down and curl up in her lap. What had happened between the two of them?

xxxx

Kristoff had run so quickly from the apartment and down the steps that by the time he reached his truck, he felt winded. He took a moment, after throwing his bags into the back of the cab, to sit and breathe. What on _earth_ had he been thinking up there? Kissing her? And then letting her lay on him and _touching_ her and -

_No_! He wasn't developing _feelings_ for her. He just… couldn't be. She was _insufferable_! If anything he was just… lusting. Yeah. That's it. She was exactly his type. Small, freckled, long red hair… It was all about her _appearance_… Obviously!

Laughing to himself, he turned his key in his ignition and shook his head. "Yep," he muttered to himself. "Just… physical attraction."

He rolled his shoulders, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. They had nothing in common, honestly. And she was far too perky and loud for his tastes. _And_ she was always moving! The girl didn't know how to just sit down and shut up. There was _no way_ he could like _her_!

Knuckles turning white as he clenched the steering wheel, Kristoff moved to back out of his spot, still shaking his head to himself.

She didn't want _him_. She just wanted to blow off some steam… right? She had fancy pants Mister Westergard courting her. Why on earth would she have any interest in a construction worker?

He felt his stomach drop.

Why did he care? He didn't care…

He didn't care.

xxxx

When the movie had finished rolling, Anna was back to pouting as her sister ran comforting hands through her hair.

"So what happened?" Elsa asked, voice low and soothing.

Anna bit at her lip, tugged at a loose thread on Elsa's pants, and sighed. "We… kind of… kissed. Maybe. A lot?" At her sister's lack of a reaction, Anna laughed. "But you totally knew that, didn't you."

"I'm more perceptive than you think, Anna." The blonde watched her little sister flip in her lap and stare up at her. "Do you like him?"

Hands covered her blushing face with her hands and grumbled. "I don't know… I don't _think_ so. I just think he's cute. Plus," she paused, sitting up and wiping her hands on her thighs. "I've been kind of talking to Hans? I mean… it's not like we've gone out yet or anything but… I _do_ like _him_…"

Elsa laughed and patted her sister's head. "Well. I guess you'll find out, hm?"

A frown was all that Anna had to answer with, before she poked at Elsa's arm. "So what about you?"

"Hm? What about me?"

Anna grinned, wiggling her eyebrows up at the blonde. "Do you have a _special_ friend in your life?"

"I… uh…" Elsa gulped. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about this part of herself with her sister. The only person who knew was Kristoff - and it had taken her a couple years to tell him. "Maybe. But… no. There's no one right now. But that's okay," she finished with a smile, pinching at Anna's cheek. "Besides, I'm way more interested in getting to know my little sister."

A frown turned into a sheepish smile, Anna blushing under her hands again. "Yeah, me too." She drew her knees up under her chin. "It's weird, isn't it? That we could be sisters and barely know one another?"

Elsa felt guilt prickling under her skin.

Biting at her lip, Anna continued. "I missed you, Elsa. I missed you so much."

Elsa's arms came around her, then, hugging her close and clinging tightly. "I missed you, too, Anna. I'm so sorry that I left you… I shouldn't have…"

"Elsa, don't be sorry… I know you had your reasons. I wish you would have told me but…" She squeezed the blonde back. "But I understand."

They embraced in silence for a few moments, before Elsa pulled back.

"Do you want to see my studio, one day? I can show you what I've been doing..."

Anna's eyes lit up, and she bounced in place. "I would _love_ that!"

xxxx

Hans tapped his fingers against the desk rather impatiently. His eyes skimmed over the text messages from the last few days that he had shared with the ice sculptor's sister, and smiled to himself. She was definitely… willing. It felt like he already had her wrapped around his finger, and he knew that would just make everything easier.

He had missed this feeling.

The one that you get when courting someone new.

When you're still trying to _get_ them.

He ran a finger over the screen, over the picture she had made him take on their first meeting. Well, they certainly _looked_ good together… That was a bonus. His father had said that if he didn't start settling down, there was no way he even had a chance to be in the running to inherit their business.

So he was _trying_.

Maybe Anna was the one. Unlike the _last_ two.

Dialing the number and pressing his phone against his ear, Hans waited patiently for her to pick up on the other end.

One ring. Two. He started tapping his foot. Three. She finally answered.

"_Heeello?"_

"Hi, Anna!" He put on the cheeriest voice he could manage.

"_Oh, hi! How are you?"_

He forced a grin onto his lips. "I'm absolutely terrific. But look, I'm going to get right to the point, here." He could feel his fingers clenching on the side of the table. "Would you like to go out on a proper date with me? Dinner… A movie… the works?"

Anna was silent for a moment, before she burst out into giggles.

"_Oh, yes! Yeah! I'd love to! To be honest I really was starting to doubt you'd ask. I thought maybe I did something wrong or maybe-"_

"So tomorrow night? Does that sound good?" She really did love to talk.

"_Sounds wonderful."_

"Perfect. See you then."

Hanging up the phone, Hans sighed and rolled his shoulders. Just as planned.


	7. Chapter 6

"I can never do this right," Anna started as she played with the now cool curlers, watching with interest in the mirror when her hair fell in soft curls down the side of her face as Elsa pulled them loose. "You're good at this."

Elsa stood behind her little sister, running her hands gently through the curls to break them apart. "Mama taught me how…" She pulled a couple pieces back to style Anna's hair into a simple, but still pretty, pin up. "You were always a little too impatient to make them work properly," she finished with a laugh, smiling wider when her sister pouted. "No offense."

Anna crossed her arms over her chest, letting her sister continue to play with her locks, and frowned deeper. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I just wear my hair in braids all the time because It's simple." She shrugged. "Too much hassle."

Another little laugh, one more pin, and "All done, Anna."

Leaning forward, she twirled eager fingers through her hair. "I love it!" she exclaimed, jumping up and forward to wrap her arms around her sister's shoulders. "Thank you!"

There was no denying that Anna was ecstatic for her date with Hans tonight, and she was _trying _to stay focused on that instead of what was tickling the back of her mind - in fact, she was doing _wonderfully_ at ignoring the dumb blond that kept flashing in her peripheral. She had spent the day doing her nails, picking out a perfect outfit, talking with Elsa… everything! There was no reason that he should be on her mind at _all_.

She had been doing so well.

"So…" Elsa mumbled, sitting down in front of the vanity as the redhead bounced around the room, gathering up all of her belongings. "Are you just kind of ignoring what happened with Kristoff?"

Anna visibly jolted, tripping over her feet momentarily before regaining some semblance of control. "What about it? It was just a kiss."

"Kristoff doesn't _just _kiss people…" Elsa wrung her fingers together, rolling her shoulders. "In fact, I don't think he's kissed _anyone_ in all the years I've known him…"

Shrugging, Anna moved back towards her closet to pull out a dress. "Well, he did. It's not like he's tried to talk to me in the last twenty-four hours." She laid it flat on the bed. "It obviously didn't mean anything."

Elsa averted her eyes as her sister pulled the short green dress over her head, and pressed her hands against her thighs. "I suppose that's true…"

She didn't plan on admitting it to her sister, but she felt it in her gut that there was _something_ going on in Kristoff's head. In five years, he hadn't kissed anyone - hadn't even expressed _interest_ in anyone. But Anna had managed to get him to kiss her and loosen up, and that just struck her as _odd_.

"Well, what do you think?"

Looking up to find her sister twirling, the skirt of the dress puffing out around her thighs, Elsa smiled. "You look beautiful, Anna." She stood, placing soft hands on her sister's shoulders. "Hans is going to love it. He's going to love _you_, Anna."

"Whoa there!" Anna laughed, shaking her hands in front of her face. "I'm not talking about _love_ here... That's…" She rubbed at the back of her neck, shrugging. "That's fast!"

Before Elsa could protest, Anna smiled. "I know, I know. Not what you meant."

Her phone began buzzing on the table by her bed, and the redhead almost tripped over her own feet racing to grab it. "Hello? Oh hi! Yeah, I'm… almost! I'll be down in five minutes!"

Elsa turned and waved, leaving the room and heading out towards the kitchen, smiling behind her hand as her little sister squealed and scrambled about the room to gather her final belongings. It had been barely a few minutes before Anna came sprinting out of her room, bag in hand and pulling her shoes on, and bid a quick farewell to her.

By the time Anna had gotten out to Hans' car, she was almost breathless. He was standing beside it, a single rose in hand, and a smile plastered across his face.

"Hi!" He waved before lifting his sunglasses up and placing them on top of his head.

Anna was honestly awestruck, eyes scanning over his completely put together form, and landing on the obviously incredibly expensive Mercedes parked next to him. "Wow. I… Jeez… I feel…"

He was growing impatient with her incomplete sentences. "What's wrong, Anna?"

Waving her hands in front her face, she blushed and tried her best not to stammer. "Oh, gosh. Nothing's _wrong_. I just feel under dressed because your shirt just looks so soft and are you wearing _slacks_ and... and… _wow_ that's a nice car."

He bit his tongue. She really did love to talk.

"Oh, this?" Hans ran a hand along the edge of the door, smiling. "It's nothing."

Watching her eyes still scanning over the smooth frame, he stepped forward and grabbed gently at her hand. "Here," he started, holding out the rose. "This is for you. The best one I could find." He took note of her blush and smiled. Easy.

"You look beautiful."

Her blush deepened, and he walked her over towards the passenger side of his Mercedes, opening the door for her. She _was _gullible, wasn't she? By the time she had slipped into the seat and the door shut behind her, Hans had stiffened his shoulders again and stalked back around the back of the car, out of her view.

He'd have her wrapped around his finger in no time.

The car ride was simple enough. He just let her talk - she _loved_ to talk - and nodded along, occasionally interrupting with his own thought… _story_. She mentioned how she was new to town and reconnecting with her sister after five years. He told her that he had been living here his whole life, that he didn't really know much else.

Stories.

Maybe they held some truth, but he wasn't about to tell everything to this mouthy little girl.

By the time they had reached the restaurant, Hans wasn't sure he was going to be able to handle her prattling for another few hours. Why did he have to pick someone who talked so much? He could have easily tried for someone much more subdued…

"So anyway I kind of ran out of money and -"

"Shall we?" Hans glanced towards her with a smile, opening the car door on the other side of him.

"Oh! Yes!"

He moved quickly to get out of his car and took a deep breath as he stood still for a moment, gathering himself. It's worth it.

A few steps around the front of his car and he turned to find the little red head struggling to get out of the seat, her face flushed with embarrassment. He laughed, and held out a hand for her. "Need help?"

Anna looked up at him, her cheeks burning. "Oh, gosh. Um…" Grabbing his hand, she let him help her lift herself out of the seat. "Low seats… Hard to-" The next thing she knew, she was flush up against his chest, his hands holding firmly under her elbows. Blue eyes looked up anxiously, flush spreading down her neck to her chest. Had she tripped over her own feet? Did that really just happen? "... get out of…"

His grin widened. "Glad I caught you."

Smiling, Anna began to laugh and push herself up off of his chest. "Me, too…" His hands were warm and gentle, and she really didn't want him to ever let go of her.

Hans found this whole exchange sickening, if he was being honest.

She stood beside him, dusting off the front of his shirt, her eyes downcast and cheeks still pink. "I'm sorry… F-for falling on you. I'm… I'm…"

"Awkward?" He winked, reiterating her statement from their last conversation in hopes to give her back that romantic feeling… without much effort.

The smile that stretched her cheeks told him he had been successful.

"Now, come on," he hummed, holding out an arm for the girl to hold. "Reservation is in five minutes."

Anna hesitantly wrapped her small hands around his arm, admiring the soft fabric under her fingertips, and trying not to focus on the obvious muscle under his sleeve. He wasn't nearly as big as Kristoff, but he was toned under his clothing.

Wait, what? Shaking her head, Anna scolded herself. She shouldn't be thinking about _Kristoff_! Shouldn't be thinking about how his shoulders rolled under her hands, about how his fingers dug into her hips and pulled her flush against his body. Or how his lips felt against hers, his tongue sliding against hers and…

"Anna?" Hans was staring at her, his face rather close to hers. "Are you okay?"

She looked around to see that they were standing in front of a table, his hand resting on the back of her chair and his fingers intertwined with hers. When did they get here? Was she that lost in her thoughts? About someone _else_?

Laughing and squeezing his hand before sliding into the seat, Anna smiled. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine! Just got a little… lost in my thoughts I suppose."

Hans simply cocked an eyebrow at her before forcing a smile and sitting across from her. He was going to kill this girl before he managed to get anywhere significant, wasn't he. "Happens to all of us, Anna. Thinking about anything in particular?"

Her face grew red, and she stiffened in her chair. "N-nothing really! Just…" She paused when the waiter poured water for them, snatching up the glass and taking a few sips of water. "Just… Was thinking about how I never thought I'd get to be on a date with someone like you…"

Someone like him? "How so?" He was interested.

"Oh…" She twisted her napkin in her fingers, smiling up at him. "Most of the people…" A nervous bite of her lip.

He watched with examining eyes.

Catching his gaze again, Anna continued. "Most of the people I dated were… Not pleasant. Mostly they just wanted to hook up and leave afterward. I guess I wouldn't really call that dating."

A brief pause as the waiter took their orders and scrambled back off to the kitchen.

"I guess I just never thought that I would get to date someone so…"

His smile grew.

"Kind."

_Perfect_.

He shrugged and rolled his eyes, laughing lightly behind his hand. "I can't believe that anyone would want to treat you so badly." This was going to be easy. "You're wonderful. Already better than anyone I've dated."

Anna flushed, a nervous laugh forcing its' way out of her chest. "Am I?"

Reaching to grasp her hand. "Definitely."

This was going to be _so _easy.

The rest of the date went similarly. Anna would reveal something of her past. Hans would give her an almost truthful story that reflected hers. They would exchange small words between bites, most of them being Anna's, much to Hans' dismay. She would offer him bites of her food, which he felt was all too comfortable for someone she barely knew… but if it made her trust him, he would do it.

By the time the waiter had asked if they wanted dessert, Anna was visibly comfortable with the man in front of her.

"Oh!" she had exclaimed, tugging on his hands. "Do you like krumkake? I haven't had krumkake since… for a long time." She paused for just one moment, before perking back up again. "I can't believe they have it!"

Hans smile was growing slightly more tight lipped with every passing moment. He was just happy she wasn't noticing. "I've never tried them. Do you want to get them?"

"Oh please! Can we?"

"Of course we can."

Willing himself to relax, Hans excused himself for a moment to use the restroom. He needed a quiet, private place to drop his front, if only for a minute. He had to keep it together. This was only the beginning. And if he wanted things to go smoothly, he had to play the game - had to keep up his charade until she fell in love with him.

He hoped it wouldn't take long.

While Hans had been gone, Anna wasn't sure how to keep herself occupied alone at the table. She glanced around the room, taking note of all of the sweet faces of couples who were having a date night - from elderly pairs who had obviously been together for a long while, to others on first dates like her. Unfortunately, she could see a few couples not enjoying their night, and she was more than thankful that hadn't happened to her.

With a sigh, she glanced out the window, at what happened to be the exact right moment.

Kristoff was walking along the edge of the building, dragging behind Sven and glancing at his phone.

She twisted her body in her seat, staring out the window and waving eagerly, hoping to catch his attention. When brown eyes turned towards her and his cheeks flushed red, Anna pulled her hand back to her chest. Did he not want to see her?

She supposed not, considering he hadn't talked to her since…

The chair across from her screeched against the hardwood floor, causing her to jerk her gaze back towards the man she was currently here with.

"What were you looking at?"

"Oh! Just…" Anna looked back at the window to find Kristoff was long gone. "A friend walked by. I was just waving hello."

The waiter set down a plate with two krumkakes on it, and quickly skittered away.

"Oh, yay!" She picked one of the pastries up in her hand, laughing as Hans approached it with a fork. "No, no!"

He paused, looking at her skeptically.

"You just pick it up and put the whole thing in your mouth!" Anna giggled, puffing some of the powdered sugar off the top of the treat, and watched as he picked it up and held it in his hands. "All in one bite…" Her smile grew as he placed it between his lips and popped the entirety of it into his mouth, laughing. "There you go!"

Unable to resist it anymore, she followed suit, closing her eyes and sighing with joy as the familiar flavors washed over her tongue.

"That was delicious," she heard, vaguely far away from her, and she smiled.

"Just like mama made…"

They remained silent for a few moments, both offering smiles to one another.

"Ready to go?"

Anna wasn't sure she wanted the night to end. But it was only the first date, she reminded herself. She shouldn't be getting carried away.

"Sure."

xxxx

Elsa jumped as Kristoff came barging in to the apartment, Sven barking the second they crossed over the threshold.

"Elsa!"

She came out of the kitchen, placing down her towel and raising her hands up in front of her chest. "Shh, please. It's late!"

He looked like he had just run a marathon.

"What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath and placed a hand against his chest. "You… you let her go out with Hans?"

Frowning, Elsa stepped forward. "I didn't _let_ her. She's not… something I can _control_, Kristoff…"

"He's a dirtbag!" He threw his arms out in front of him. "Don't you remember what I told you? I've known the guy since I was thirteen." A pause. "He's _always_ been the same."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "She's an adult. And I trust her. If she trusts Hans, I trust that she's making the right call."

Kristoff's grip on Sven's leash was tight enough to make his knuckles go white. "They _always_ trust him. And I don't trust any of them. And you obviously don't trust me."

Her brows furrowed together in worry.

xxxx

The car ride was quiet. He held her hand, but didn't say much. Anna figured he was as sad about it ending as she was, and squeezed his fingers gently. When they pulled up to the front of her apartment complex, Hans moved quickly to help her out of the car and walked her slowly to the entrance door.

She shuffled her feet against the concrete sidewalk when his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"So…" Hans started, slowing to a stop when the reached the single step up. "Did you have fun?"

Smiling and turning to face him, Anna nodded her head. "Yes. I did! I… I liked talking to you."

He couldn't help but laugh. At least she somewhat admitted she did most of the talking. Maybe he could teach her how to be quieter, as time went on. "I enjoyed talking with you, too. It was nice."

Anna took a deep breath, and stepped a fraction closer to him. "I hope we can go out again."

So simple. So easy.

Lifting his hands to cup her jaw, Hans pulled her in close to press a kiss against her lips, and smiled when he felt her melting into his touch. Three… Two… One…

He pushed away, smiling down at her red cheeks. Just long enough to make her happy, but short enough to make her want more. He had done this song and dance plenty of times before. And now she would fumble over her words and think about him for the rest of the night.

"Well…" she sighed, eyes fluttering open and a softness turning up her lips."Goodnight…"

"Goodnight."

He watched her go through the door and run up the stairs out of sight. He walked back to his car, slipped in behind the wheel, and sighed. This was going to be irritating.

But if it meant consideration for inheriting the company…

It'd be worth it.

xxxx

Anna came skipping up the steps and through the doorway, still on a high from the end of the date, to walk in on a tense Elsa and even more angry looking Kristoff.

"Um… Hi?"

They both turned to look at her.

"What's… going on?"

Kristoff looked between the two sisters. "Well? Are you going to tell her?"

Elsa gnawed at her lip.

"Fine." He swung his whole body around to face Anna straight on, and placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to jump. "Hans is not a good guy. I don't think you should see him again."

"Excuse me?" Anna stared at him incredulously. "And who are you to tell me who I should and shouldn't see?"

His grip tightened on her shoulders. "Someone who has known that asshole for ten years."

Shoving past him, Anna moved to stand beside her sister. "Elsa? What do you think?" Her fingers were twisting around her bag, a nervous habit she had since she was a child.

"I…"

Kristoff's eyes grew darker, pleading with Elsa to let Anna know the truth.

"I think you should do what you think is best, Anna."

Elsa winced when she heard Kristoff scoff, mutter a quiet "fine then," and leave, slamming the door shut behind him. She knew he'd come around eventually, but she never liked it when he was angry with her. He wasn't angry often, but when he _was_… It took a lot of persuading to get him to come around.

Plopping down on the couch, Anna sighed. "What does he know?" She rolled her shoulders. "He probably knows Hans from when he was younger. He told me he's been in a lot of bad relationships…" Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag. "We had such a good time, Elsa… He's sweet and kind…"

A nod from the blonde, and a pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure Kristoff is wrong about him…" Elsa smiled down at her little sister. "He's a great guy, but he holds grudges. If Hans did anything to him ever, he wouldn't have forgive him."

Hearing Anna sniffle sent Elsa back, back to childhood, and she immediately rubbed a hand across her back. "Why don't you go get comfortable… then you can tell me all about it, all right?"

Anna nodded and left the room, leaving Elsa by herself.

She hoped, with everything she had, that Kristoff was wrong.

But she had a feeling he wasn't.


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Finished early in the morning, but posting regardless. I'll probably wind up editing for SPaG errors again when i wake up, but please let me know if there are any glaring errors that you noticed. thanks!

* * *

Anna had been living with her sister for a few weeks now, so she had gotten much more used to the layout of town. Well… at the very least she knew how to get to the bakery, coffee shop, and Elsa's studio. So on her way to the studio, she had _definitely_ made sure to stop at the bakery.

Elsa loved chocolates just as much as she did, she remembered, so Anna had made sure to pick up the fudgiest cake she could see in the glass display case.

The studio was about five miles away, but Anna never minded walking. She _was _a cross country runner in high school, so walking five miles wasn't much to her anymore. Even though it had been a few years, and she definitely couldn't run like she used to, walking was fine.

Anna took a deep breath when she saw the door of her studio just down the road. This was going to be her first time _really_ alone with Elsa. Sure, they had been alone together before, but they were at the apartment, watching movies, or television, or doing something… but now there really wouldn't be all that much to distract them from _talking_ the whole time. As soon as Elsa had finished showing her the studio, what else were they going to do?

Talk.

Fumbling around in her bag for the key that Elsa had given her, Anna took the few final steps it took to reach the doorway, quickly unlocking it and stepping into the frigid room. She shivered, cursing herself for not bringing a heavier sweater, and walked through the small hall to the open studio.

"Elsa?"

She didn't hear any response - or any noise at all, really - and glanced around to see if there was any sign of -

"Oh…"

Face down on her desk, there was Elsa, sound asleep. Anna _had _thought she didn't come back to the apartment last night. Did she really sleep on her desk all night, though? That couldn't have been comfortable.

"Elsa?" she asked again, taking a few steps towards the hunched over woman. When there was no sign of her moving, Anna grinned and set the cake down against the wall. This might be her only chance to look around without the awkwardness that was bound to come with them finally just talking.

She knew the past was going to come up.

She wasn't sure she was ready to tell Elsa about what she had done over the last five years.

She wasn't exactly proud of it.

Sighing, Anna rubbed her hands up and down her arms, and moved towards the wall where some sculptures of varying levels of finishedness sat, and bent at the waist in order to get a closer look.

Elsa sculpted everything, didn't she! There were animals and people and mythical creatures lining the wall, and Anna couldn't believe the detail in some of these figures. How could someone make _ice_ look so… lifelike? If it weren't clear and, well, made of ice, she would be tricked into thinking these were _real_ creatures.

She wanted to touch it so badly, to feel the crisp, carved edges… but would the heat of her hands melt it at all? That wasn't a risk she was quite ready to risk ruining something of Elsa's - she was still cautious around the apartment, even.

Blue eyes scanned over the sculptures, one by one, until they landed on a tall, locked, black freezer. Running her hands over it, Anna sighed when she found it was locked. Was it something… risque? Or violent? Or just the storage freezer, maybe?

She looked behind her, noticing the much larger silver freezer, that kept everything crisp.

So it couldn't be the storage…

What else would Elsa keep locked and hidden away?

Anna jumped when she heard a snort and a mumble coming from her sister's desk. Maybe it was wrong to be snooping, and she should wake her? Maybe?

Quietly, she tiptoed to where her sister was sleeping, absentmindedly wondering how she could sleep in such a cold environment, before stopping in front of the desk. "Elsa?" she asked, tapping a nail onto the wooden surface. "Elsa..."

Another snort, and the blond turned her head over to the other side, seeming to want to block out the light that was peeking through the gaps above her arms.

"Elsa," Anna continued, grumbling under her breath now. "Please wake up... We had plaaaans." Her voice was morphing into a whine as her hand rose to press against her sister's shoulder. "Come on."

Elsa awoke with a gasp, sitting up and blinking rapidly up at the redhead. "What..." She rubbed a sleepy fist against her eye and glanced around the room. "What time is it?"

"Like... eleven?"

"At night?"

"No..."

Nodding knowingly, Elsa sighed and rubbed hands down her face. She had managed to fall asleep here again. Usually, she assumed that it was the better alternative to driving while exhausted and risk getting into an accident... But this was her third day here, and she was not showered and felt rather _grimy_.

"How long've you been here?" she questioned, leaning back in her chair to stretch, her words slurring sleepily over her tongue. "Sorry I was sleeping..."

Anna sat in the chair across her desk with a smile, and waved her hands in front of her. "Oh, gosh, no problem! It's not like I'm in any rush to get anywhere."

They sat in a content silence for a few moments, until Anna jumped up, an exclaimed "Oh!" escaping from her mouth, and bounced over towards where she had set her bags down. "I brought you a treat!" Threading her hands through the handles of the bag, she trotted back over to the desk and pulled the wrapped bakery box out of the bag, singing a little "Ta daaa!"

A smile and a laugh, and Elsa clapped her hands together. "Is it chocolate?"

"What else would it be, big sister?" Anna's grin had grown more mischievous, and she dug around in her purse to produce two forks. "Everyone knows chocolate is the best."

Elsa licked her lips and started untying the strings of the box in order to reveal that delectable, smooth, creamy deliciousness that was hiding in the cardboard. When the lid popped open, both girls sighed in relief. What a _beautiful_ cake! They could hardly wait, and both grabbed a tight hold on their fork.

"You get the first bite," Anna encouraged, popping her fork in between her lips as if to prevent herself from giving in to temptation and diving face first into the icing.

When her fork dug into the cake, the blonde couldn't help the ridiculous smile that stretched her cheeks at the feeling of the smooth pastry splitting under her utensil. It was fluffy and light and came apart so nicely as she poked at it and tore off the first piece.

And then it hit her tongue, and Anna could see pure ecstasy cross her features.

The redhead couldn't help but giggle at her. "That good, huh?"

"Oh gosh, Anna," she hummed, covering her full mouth with her hand. "I think it's the best cake I've ever had from them." Making a vague gesture with her hands, Elsa moved to take another bite. "Have some. You're gonna love it!"

The two girls sat in a happy silence, the only sound echoing in the studio was their forks hitting down onto the bottom of the cake, and the occasional giggle that bubbled up when they looked at one another. Anna liked this. It was quiet and not awkward. But she knew that wasn't going to last.

But she hoped it would have lasted longer than _that_.

"So, Anna..." Elsa started, her fork slowing and her eyes glancing up shyly at her sister. "What... What did you do while I was gone?"

Oh god, it was just as awkward as she thought it would be...

Laughing, Anna waved off the question. "Oh gosh, please, my life was so boring! I didn't do anything besides school and shop, really." She bit her lip and gestured towards her sister. "But you – wow! You moved to _Alaska_ and are a _famous artist_ and... your life is _way_ more worth talking about!"

"That's pretty much all there is to it – but high school _must_ have been fun – you've _got to _have stor-"

Anna slapped her hand holding the fork down onto the table and interrupted her sister. "Tell me, Elsa! Why…" She swallowed, and turned her eyes down to the desk for a moment to give herself a break from Elsa's confused stare. A smile. "Why Alaska?"

The blonde was more than a little taken aback, and blinked a few times to gather her thoughts. "O-oh… um…" She took a moment to think to herself, and laughed lightly. "I… I actually don't know. I guess I wanted to be somewhere cold? But I didn't want to leave the country."

Her little sister watched with intrigue.

"You know winter has always been my favorite. I love snow and ice and… I figured being north was a goof choice." She shrugged, and wished she had a more interesting reason for choosing this state. "Alaska was the furthest I could get without leaving the country and dealing with immigrating…"

Anna bounced forward on her seat, smiling and taking another bite of the cake. "Makes sense! Don't need a philosophical reason for everything!"

A smile. "You're right." Elsa followed suit and took another few bites of the cake. "Kai and Gerda told me you traveled a lot?"

"Elsaaa," Anna whined, pressing the fork against her lip. "No, no. Not about me!" Rolling her eyes, she laughed. "So Alaska is a pretty cool place! Have you…" Thinking… "Have you seen a bear? Bears are neat!"

"Anna-"

"Ooh! What about a moose?!"

"Anna, what's-"

"Have you gone ice fishing?"

"Anna!"

At her sudden (and incredibly rare) exclamation, Anna clamped her lips shut. Her voice was quiet and meek. "... Sorry."

Elsa rubbed her hands against her forehead and sighed. "It's fine, Anna…" She dropped her hands back down to the desk. "It's obvious that we're not ready to talk about our time apart… So why not talk about what's going on right now?"

Anna smiled and nodded. "Okay…" A bite of her lip. "So what got you interested in ice sculpting?"

Elsa dove into the story, about how even when she was little she loved playing with clay (which Anna said she vaguely remembered) and that of all the forms of art that she explored, sculpting was always her favorite, even if it wasn't what she was best at, at the time. She explained that while she originally mostly used clay, sometimes wood or wax… there was something about _ice_ that made her want to branch out and experiment.

"When I got here, after finding an apartment and a job at a coffee shop…" Elsa twisted her fingers together nervously, and sighed. "I finally saved up enough money to _buy_ this place. It was just a concrete shed…"

Anna stared on, eyes glossing over with amazement. "But I… actually put an ad out on craigslist for cheap labor help and… Kristoff was the one who answered. I lucked out with him."

She continued on to explain how they had made the studio into what it is today. The only other outside help she needed to hire was an electrician, who wired up the large freezers.

"Oh!" Anna interrupted again, smiling wide. "I was wondering… What's in that locked black freezer?"

Flushing, Elsa bit her lip and smiled. "Oh… It's… my first sculpture that really… put my name out there."

She all but jumped out of her seat to run over to the black freezer, bouncing on her toes in front of it. "Can I see it? Please?"

"Oh… it's so old… I don't…"

"Pleeeeease?"

They stared at one another for awhile, Anna's face beaming and Elsa's obviously nervous, until the blonde sighed and reached in her desk to grab out the keys. "Okay. Just… Remember that it's old and please don't think I'm weird or anything..."

Anna stepped out of the way, briefly wondering just exactly _why_ she would find Elsa at all weird… but immediately losing track of any of her thoughts when she saw the sculpture. Right before her eyes was an accurate, and _beautiful_ sculpture of "...Me?"

"You…" Elsa leaned back up against the wall of the freezer and sighed. "You were all I could think about when I moved here… my baby sister, you know? I…"

They both kept silent.

"I missed you a lot, Anna…"

She swallowed hard and smiled, fighting back the tears welling in her eyes. "Yeah, well…" It sure hadn't felt like it. "Why do you still have it?"

Stepping back out of the freezer, Elsa gestured for Anna to follow her. "I… I wasn't sure that I would get to see you again, Anna. I didn't know if you would ever be part of my life again." A misting of tears were rimming her bottom lash. "I couldn't let it melt because it felt like…"

She wiped under her eyes. "It felt like letting you go… I wasn't ready for that."

Anna took a few strides forward to wrap warm arms around her older sister, and rubbed gently at her back. "Elsa… I'm here now. I am. We're together again. And from now on, we're not gonna be apart, okay?"

Elsa nodded against her shoulder, hugging her closer.

"Now…" Pulling back, Anna smiled. "Why don't we head home. You can nap, shower, whatever it is you want to do." She watched Elsa nod, her eyelids fluttering shut again. "Then we can talk more later. Sound good?"

"Shotgun," Elsa mumbled, laughing to herself as they gathered up their things and walked out the door.

xxxx

When they got back to the apartment, Elsa almost immediately moved to the shower, then back to her room for a short nap, while Anna cleaned up around the apartment, and by the time she woke up and came back out, Anna was sitting on the couch with a photo album in hand.

"Come here, Elsa!"

The couch shifted under the blonde's weight, and Anna moved to place the large book into her sister's lap.

"I kept all my pictures from high school. There's homecoming in here… and prom… and graduation…" she paused, watching Elsa flip through the pages of the book. "And some other little things thrown in. Just… for me."

Elsa laughed as she turned the pages, admiring how her sister grew up from a gawky fifteen year old to the beautiful twenty year old she was now. "Why didn't you just put them in a digital album like most people do?"

Shrugging, she brushed off the question. "Feels more real, I guess?"

In truth, Anna had been planning to do one of two things with the photo album - either give it to Elsa when they finally met again, or leave it at her parent's gravestones in hopes that they would be able to look through it in heaven. She couldn't express how happy she was to be able to share it with her big sister.

But what Anna couldn't see was the regret pumping through Elsa's heart. Regret that she hadn't been there to experience these things. To help Anna pick a dress. To help her get ready and take dorky pictures of her and "Your date?"

She waved her hands out in front of her. "Just a friend. His girlfriend, who was a close friend of mine, was away at college already… so we went together with her blessing," Anna laughed, memories of awkwardly slow dancing with him coming back to her head. It really had been a rather awkward night…

"Speaking of dating," Elsa had interjected, keeping her eyes down and her hands on the book pages. "Are you sure things with Hans are fine?"

Groaning, Anna dropped her head into her hands. "Are you kidding me? Yes… Things are fine, Elsa! I'm good at reading people… Hans is…" A slightly more dreamy quality wove it's way into her voice. "He's amazing… Really! So amazing…"

She nodded and bit her lip. "I know you think so, and I really do… really want to trust your judgment but…" Blue eyes finally turned towards Anna. "But Kristoff has known him since they were little. He has a serious problem with him… and…"

"Look." Anna took a deep breath and sighed. "I get it. Kristoff is your best friend and blah blah blah, but he doesn't _know_ Hans. He _doesn't_ know him." She pulled out her phone to run a finger over text messages. "I asked him about Kristoff. He says they just went to school together, but they never talked. All Kristoff knows about him is his _reputation_."

Elsa turned her gaze away again, slumping her shoulders and nodding.

"And I'm not going to judge someone based on their _reputation_." She crossed her arms, lowering her voice to an inaudible whisper. "God knows how many people judged me based on mine…"

Thankful that Elsa either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore it, Anna continued. "Besides, Hans is twenty five. He's probably _way_ different than he was in high school over seven years ago!"

Elsa shrugged. "You're right. I don't know Hans. Kristoff hasn't known him for a long time… Just… please be careful? He really doesn't have…" She placed her hand over her little sister's. "He doesn't have the best reputation. But as you said… It's _just _his reputation."

The silence was thick enough to cut with a butter knife.

But Anna was the best at breaking that kind of silence. She threw an arm around her sister and smiled. "Come on, let's go get a late lunch. We can worry about this another day. Everything is fine right now!"

Agreeing, Elsa stood with her and gathered up her belongings before heading out the door.


	9. Chapter 8

**Note**: I don't normally put notes on my fics on here, but I feel like this is a necessary one... I'm going to put the super early warning on this chapter. This fic is going to get **heavy**. I don't want people to get too attached and then be let down because they don't want to read that kind of stuff. It is going to be dealing with domestic violence and abusive relationships, in a relatively graphic nature. There will be some dubcon and physical violence.  
That being said, I will be putting warnings on the chapters that contain anything of that nature, but they are all pretty crucial to the story. And _THAT_ being said, nothing too bad will happen for a little while longer.

Anyway, with this warning, if you decide to continue with the fic, please enjoy~

* * *

Anna was sitting on the couch watching a movie when she heard a firm knock on the door. Was Elsa expecting someone that she forgot to mention again? At least this time she was _dressed_… When another knock rapped on the door, Anna sighed and murmured a quiet "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Pulling open the door, she was met with a familiar grumpy blonde and an unknown, happily panting dog.

"Oh, it's you," he mumbled, stepping past her and making his way into the apartment. "Is Elsa here?"

"I mean, yeah, come on in." Rolling her eyes, Anna closed the door behind him and crossed her arms over her chest. "No, she's not. She's at the studio all day."

Kristoff sighed, kicked his shoes off by the door, took the leash off of his dog, and moved into the kitchen to grab a pen and post-it note. "Well I got a package for her, so I guess I'll just…" He turned around to find Anna sitting on the floor with his dog, rubbing his belly and giggling like crazy.

A light pink dusted his cheeks, and he turned away from the cute little redhead to scribble his note quickly before sticking it on top of the package. He took a moment to gather himself, taking deep breaths and ignoring her presence, until she spoke up.

"What's his name?"

Kristoff turned on his heel to face her, and sat backwards into the dining chair, scratching the legs against the wood floor. "Sven. And apparently he likes you."

The pup's tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he writhed around on the floor happily, occasionally licking at Anna's hands, and nuzzling his nose against her knee. He sure did love belly rubs.

Anna continued scratching at his chest and tummy, laughing along with his panting, and Kristoff couldn't help but smile at them.

There were no words spoken between them, just the occasional baby talk from Anna towards Sven, and the grumbled "don't talk to him like that" from Kristoff, earning a sharp glare from the girl. Kristoff let about fifteen minutes pass (in which he messed around on his phone), before he stood and shrugged, rolling his shoulders.

"So…" He stepped towards her and blushed again when her warm eyes landed on his. "I should probably go… Sven likes long walks and the days are getting shorter…" Grabbing the leash off of the table, Kristoff latched it into the dog's harness as soon as he stood on all fours, eager and ready to go, and moved towards the door.

Anna leapt upwards off the ground and touched his arm gently before jerking her hand away. "Ah…"

He stared at her expectantly.

"Can… Can I come with you?"

There was another tense silence between them as he thought and she worried her bottom lip. The last time they had been alone together, things had gotten… carried away. And the last time they talked, he had left, slammed the door, and was obviously angry. Would them being alone lead to another problematic situation?

Sighing, Kristoff waved his hand and nodded. "Sure. Come on."

Anna smiled and ran to grab a sweater and shoes before joining up with him at the doorway again, closing and locking it behind them.

Kristoff wasn't kidding when he said that Sven liked long walks. They had already gone two miles and weren't showing signs of stopping any time soon. Anna would have been perfectly fine with this… if he hadn't been ignoring her. Literally. He hadn't said a word in two miles. He wouldn't even look at her. And when she _tried _to talk...

"So are we going anywhere in particular?"

… he would speed up his pace and make her jog to catch up. Finally, she had enough.

Darting forward to grab his arm and pull him to a stop, Anna stomped her foot down against the pavement. "Why on _earth_ did you agree to me coming along if you were just going to _ignore _me the whole time?"

He shrugged.

"Stop just _shrugging_!"

A sigh. "I'm sorry." Kristoff finally met her gaze, offering her a small and crooked grin. "I'm just not sure…"

Not sure of what? What their relationship was? How to act around her? How not to kiss her? Kristoff couldn't deny that he felt a tension around her. A desire to touch her again like the last time they were alone. The feeling that boiled in his stomach when she touched his hands and was laying across his lap.

It had felt normal and nice and everything he knew he _shouldn't_ be feeling about his best friend's little sister… who also happened to be _Hans Westergard's _girlfriend-ish… thing.

She was staring at him. He blushed.

"Anyway… what do you wanna talk about?"

Biting her lip, Anna shrugged. "I don't know, um…" She tapped her finger against her chin before bouncing up with an "oh!" and adjusting so she was walking backwards in front of him. "Were you born here?"

"Yep."

A pout. "Okay… So you're going to be difficult, huh?"

He smirked at her and shrugged again. "Only if you give me yes or no questions."

"All right, fine," she laughed, smiling brightly at him. "What's your job?"

He groaned, rolling his shoulders as Sven started trotting ahead of them. "I'm a laborer for a local construction company." He laughed at Anna's confused stare, and found it in himself to be less difficult. "Basically I work for them when they need me - lately it's most days, so the extra cash has been nice."

Anna gave him a nod, as if she understood, and he decided to give her even more information. "Sometimes I go work on my parent's reindeer farm. That's what I grew up doing. And then, you know, I get ice for Elsa."

"Oh yeah!" The redhead bounced beside him again, and he was amused by her enthusiasm. "If you have those other two jobs, why do you get ice for Elsa? What got you started doing that?"

"It's just something I've been doing for a long time…" Kristoff felt his heart growing heavier in his chest, and he tried his best to ignore it. He really wasn't sure that he wanted to reveal quite _that _much to this girl… "Then I met Elsa on craigslist so… We worked out a deal. And I bring her stuff weekly."

Anna smiled, remembering that her sister had said the same thing. But… "It seems like such a random hobby though… like… what got you interested in cutting ice?"

"Harvesting," he corrected, rolling his neck down to face her, a small smile playing at his lips. "When I was little," Kristoff started, his eyes down and nervous. "My dad's favorite thing to do was go harvest glaciers. He made a small business out of it, sold it to local ice companies… When I turned six, he started taking me along."

Anna nodded and smiled, looking up at the tall blond looming over her. "So… Do you guys still go out together to do it?"

His face dropped and she felt a new sort of tension between them.

"Nah…"

She waited to see if he'd continue.

He didn't.

Unable to help her curiosity, she had to ask. "Did… did something happen?"

Kristoff was silent, his jaw clenched and tension forming in his back. "He… He, um…" He swallowed the large lump in his throat. "When I was about eight, he uh…"

Anna stopped walking and turned to face him. She knew this expression far too well - she had spent a few years with that hard swallow and inability to get words out. "You don't have to tell me," she started, wrapping her arms around his waist, and pressing her cheek against his chest. "I'm sorry."

As soon as she was touching him, she wondered if this was okay. Was this past the boundaries of _friends_? Past what was okay with Kristoff and _his _friends? When a tense hesitation rose in his shoulders, and he was holding his hands out to his sides to avoid touching her, Anna was sure that she had made a mistake.

But he gave in and draped his arms around her, smiling against the top of her head, and Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

For Kristoff, there was no expressing how thankful he was that she understood the situation without him needing to say anything. Her fingers curled into his shirt, and he felt that same shiver of warmth that he had felt the last time she touched him.

_Let go, Kristoff. Let go of her. Don't do this to yourself. You can't have her. You shouldn't even try._

Pulling away, he smiled warmly down at her. "When I got old enough," he almost whispered, letting go of her completely, "I started harvesting on my own. Keeps me close to him, you know?"

Anna nodded, her eyes soft as she took her hands away from his hips. Before she had a chance to reply, Sven let out a loud bark and took off down the road, tearing his leash from Kristoff's hand.

They both stood in shock for a moment, turned to face one another, and then darted down the sidewalk behind the pup, calling after him.

After about five minutes of chasing him, Kristoff had an idea of where he was running to, and pulled Anna to a slower pace.

"But…"

"It's fine," he mumbled, taking in a deep breath. "He's going to the dog park. We'll catch up eventually."

Anna couldn't help but laugh. "He's a pretty well behaved dog, isn't he? I was honestly shocked that he ran off."

"Obviously," Kristoff grumbled, "we were not moving fast enough for him." A shrug and a laugh, before he continued. "But yeah, he's mostly well behaved. I couldn't believe what a sweet pup he is, all things considered."

Confusion fell across her features. "What? What things considered?"

The blond was laughing hysterically. "You know, you're getting loads of personal information out of me _scary _fast, Red."

Anna tossed him a smug glance. "Guess I'm just someone you feel like you can trust."

He turned to give her a soft smile. "Yeah, guess so."

They held one another's gaze for a moment too long, before Anna was forced to shake her head and turn her eyes forward. "So… What happened to Sven?"

"Oh yeah, so…" He was doing his best to bite his blush back down. There was something about the way she looked at him that make his stomach flip. In a good way? But it wasn't like he could _act_ on it. Sure they had… _done_ things… but she had a boyfriend type thing now, didn't she? Besides, if she wanted to do anything, _she _could be the one to initiate it.

He didn't need to get tangled up in _her_.

Knowing his life would be so much easier without getting involved with his best friends little sister was _definitely _enough to calm his mind.

Definitely…

"A few years back, I think it's been six, now?" Kristoff thought for a minute, nodding. "Yeah, six. He was just a little puppy. I was walking down the road and I heard whimpering." He noted how upset she looked and was hesitant to keep going. "Uh, I guess his owners decided they didn't want him, for whatever reason… He was sitting in an alleyway taped into a box with just some holes cut into it."

Anna's hands were covering her mouth as she gasped, tears brimming her bottom lash line. "Who would do that to a puppy?"

Kristoff shook his head, obvious distress threading through his brows. "I… I don't know. If I ever find them, I'm definitely going to punch them. Sven's just… the absolute best and sweetest dog ever." He sighed. "He wasn't even scared when I got him out of the box. He was just jumping all over me, nuzzling his nose into my neck. I fell in love with him the minute I found him."

"I bet he felt the same about you."

"If he did it was probably just because I saved him. People and animals don't exactly like me." He was laughing, but Anna could see a flicker of pain in his brown eyes, gone in an instant.

She grabbed his hand and offered him a smile. "I like you."

Freezing, Kristoff did his best to subtly roll the tension out of his shoulders, and kept his gaze stoic and facing forward, pulling his hand from hers with a slight jerk. "Yeah, well… I think you kind of have to."

Anna felt that like a jab in the gut. Did he think she was faking a friendship? Did he not trust her? Did she cross a line by touching him again? Were they not really as comfortable as she had thought?

He had opened up to her, just a little bit, for a moment there. Maybe she had read too deeply into it… She had done that before, in the past. Many times. Would it really be all that surprising if she had done it again?

Deep down she had hoped that it was just because of stress of Sven running off.

An awkward silence fell between the two, Anna's gaze falling down to the pavement before them, Kristoff's staying hard out in front of them. The silence lasted until they arrived at the park, another ten minutes down the road, and he began calling out for Sven.

Within about thirty seconds, the mutt came bounding towards them, jumping up onto Kristoff's shoulders and licking enthusiastically at his face. The blond was laughing hysterically along with his dog.

"All right, all right, I'm here." He pushed him back as he knelt down, and scratched vigorously under Sven's chin. "Don't run off like that, bud. You scared me."

Watching with adoration, Anna thought she might be starting to understand Kristoff just…just a _little _better. Underneath his whole grumpy exterior, he was soft. Maybe he had been hurt in the past. Maybe he felt… afraid to show his true colors?

But if how he acted towards Sven was any indication of how he truly _was_, she felt he would be worth sticking around to get to know. Anyone who loves their dog as much as Kristoff loved Sven couldn't possibly be a bad person.

Sven made small little whimpering noises, and Kristoff nodded knowingly. "I got it buddy, I know. We stopped during your walk and you don't like when I do that unless it's on your terms."

Grabbing a tight hold on his leash, Kristoff stood back up next to Anna, and turned to her with the smallest hint of a smile. "Ready to head back?"

She smiled, nodding and took a step towards him, when her phone rang.

"Uh… hang on, I'm sorry."

When she pulled her phone from her pocket, Anna smiled for a brief moment before letting her eyes dart over to Kristoff, then back down to her phone. "I, um… is it okay if I take this? It's…"

His face stayed stoic, but he nodded, waved her on, and then turned his eyes down, doing his best to ignore the girl on the phone.

"Hey," she whispered, cupping her hand over the mouthpiece in order to muffle the conversation further. "Can I call you back la-" He started speaking again, cutting her off and continuing onward, her nodding and biting at her lip.

Kristoff only caught part of the conversation, but he could _hear_ Hans' condescending voice permeating through the back of her phone. If he was being honest, it was completely unsurprising that he wasn't a quiet man, but he hoped that Hans had more decency than to _speak over her_.

Anna was mumbling little "uh huh"s and "yeah"s, trying her best to get off the phone, and offering little apologetic glances towards him… and Kristoff couldn't quite figure out why he was so _angry_. She was _dating_ Hans. Of course she wouldn't just hang up on him. Of _course _she would put up with his rambling. She was completely infatuated with him.

"Yeah, Hans… Please I have to -"

Kristoff crossed his arms over his chest. It's not like she was interested in _him_ at all. She had kissed him, but that was before Hans took her out. She had rested on his lap, and held his hand, and made him feel stupidly _warm_… but she didn't _like_ him. She didn't want to _date _him…

Why was he even thinking about this?

Smiling and blushing, Anna covered her mouth with her hand again, as if it would block the next few words from the blond standing next to her. "Yes that sounds great. Yeah, see you then."

Dropping his hands to his side, he balled them into fists and turned towards the entrance.

By the time Anna had hung up the phone, Kristoff had started to walk away, and she had to jog slightly to catch up. "Hey!" She hooked herself onto his arm and frowned up towards him. "What was that for?"

He shrugged, keeping his gaze forward. "Nothing. Sorry. I thought you were right behind me."

"Look…" Anna turned her gaze down, upset that he only glanced at her for a brief moment before turning away. "I know you hate him, but if you just took a time to got to know him -"

"I do know him." Kristoff took a moment and a deep breath, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do what you want, Anna. I'm just telling you that he's not a good person."

Her jaw tightened and her stare hardened, and she felt like she was close to tears. Weren't they having… an okay day? Why did one phone call from someone she was seeing ruin it?

It didn't take long for Kristoff to notice that this was not the time or place, and that Anna was growing increasingly visibly upset. "Come on," he sighed, placing a hand on her back, and gently leading her towards the entrance of the park. "Let's head home."

The walk back was long and quiet, and Anna wished more than anything she knew how to get herself home so she could part ways with this increasingly awkward situation. She could still feel the warmth of his large hand spanning across her mid back, and she wanted so badly to shake it off of her skin. It was bad enough that her stomach felt like it was almost in constant knots around him ever since he kissed her, ever since he… ran away.

It was obvious to her that he didn't want anything to do with her. Even letting her come along on the walk felt forced and obligatory. And as quickly as they had relaxed around one another, things grew silent and tense again. She _hated _it.

Anna just wanted to be his friend. That was all she wanted. But how Kristoff felt about her seemed to flip between kind of liking her to loathing even being around her. Why was he making this so damn difficult?

"Hey…"

Keeping her eyes downcast, but feeling his gaze burning into the side of her face, Anna pulled her sweater tighter around her form, and tucked her hands under the opposing arm. "Did I do something?"

"What?"

"I…" She pulled at the already tearing skin of her bottom lip and dared to meet his gaze for just a fleeting moment. "You seem like you're mad at me. Did I do something wrong?"

"Ah…" Kristoff rubbed anxiously at the back of his neck. "No… I'm not mad…"

Anna didn't believe him, and she felt a new something clogging up her throat. She just wanted to get home, to go back to her room and hide under her covers. She really couldn't even make one friend? She couldn't manage to make _one _person not hate her?

How bad of a friend was she?

"Can you tell me how to get home from here?"

"Wait, what?" Kristoff's whole head whipped around to face her, confusion tugging at his face.

"I want to go home." Anna willed herself to stay calm, but felt that it probably wouldn't last for very long.

He turned to face her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm taking you home, that's where we're going." Trying his best to catch her gaze, Kristoff gave her a gentle squeeze before slipping his hand down to rest on her upper arm.

Why did he have to be so _warm_? "I think I want to walk alone…"

Kristoff wasn't going to fight her. Something felt different in the air between them, and he wasn't really equipped to handle this. "All right…" he crooned, letting go of her arm. It was simple enough, just a couple turns. He directed her down the easiest path, just making two turns to get onto her road. He was fairly confident that she would find the apartment on the road. "Just let me know when you get home, okay?"

"Yeah…" Anna kept her stare down, and turned away, offering him a small wave. "'Bye."

"See you…"

Kristoff watched her head down the road and turn at his first direction, and frowned to himself. Feeling the nudge of Sven's muzzle under his hand, Kristoff turned his attention down to the mutt. "What's her deal?"

Glancing around quickly to make sure no one could hear him, he knelt down beside Sven, and lowered his voice into a slightly goofy, deeper tone. "_Well you did get kind of weird and quiet after she talked to Hans._"

Kristoff glared at the pup, who had his head tilted to the side, almost giving off a _you know I'm right _expression.

"Well I hate him!" Kristoff ran a hand down his face. "What am I supposed to do?"

Sven tilted his head the other way, flopped his tongue out of his mouth, and barked.

Sighing and dropping his head, Kristoff offered a small nod to his pup. "You're right, bud. You're always right."

If he wanted any chance of even being _friends_ with Anna, he had to offer her support. Even if he didn't necessarily _agree _with the whole situation…

Glancing once more down the road where she had walked, he groaned and got up, deciding it was still best to leave her alone for a little while.

It had taken a bit longer than she had expected to get home (though the one wrong turn probably contributed a large chunk of time to that), but the minute she did, Anna kicked her shoes off and pulled out her phone.

_[ I'm home. ]_

_[ Good. Glad you made it safe. ]_

Anna scoffed, and fell backwards onto the couch, leaning her head against the back of it. She didn't expect her phone to vibrate again.

_[ I'm sorry about today. ]_

_[ For what? ]_

_[ For getting weird. Look… We're kind of friends, right? ]_

_[ … I guess. ]_

_[ Then I'll do my best to bite my tongue, if you're happy. ]_

She felt like a weight in her chest had lightened significantly.

_[ … Thank you. ]_

_[ Not a problem, Red. ]_


	10. Chapter 9

Over the next week, Kristoff had come over a few more times, or invited Anna along on his daily walks with Sven, and they had spent a little more time getting to know one another. Anna learned that he had named Sven after an old reindeer he had befriended when he was little on the farm, and Kristoff had learned that Anna had a fluffy white cat named Olaf when she was young.

Sure, the knowledge was relatively shallow, but it was _something_, and Anna, honestly, was cherishing the time spent with him. She had always wanted a _real _friend - someone who she could be _herself_ with, and who would be content to just sit around in pajamas, watch television, and just veg out with her. Kristoff might just _be _that friend.

That's why she got so upset when he came over, and started acting _weird_.

"You look nice…"

Anna jumped at the voice in her doorway, and snapped her head around to look at the tall form leaning up against the frame. "Oh," she breathed, relief rolling up her back, a smile stretching at her cheeks. "You scared me…"

"Sorry…" his voice was a low rumble, and he kept his gaze relatively downcast. "Why are you so dressed up?"

Swallowing hard, Anna bit at her lower lip. "I, um…" She couldn't stop shifting nervously in place. "I have a date with Hans tonight… I thought I mentioned that?"

Kristoff let out a small laugh and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Right… Guess I forgot."

Silence fell heavy over them for a few moments, before Kristoff turned on his toe and walked out of her room, heading back towards the living room to sit with Elsa. Anna was tempted to go follow him, but her phone started vibrating on her nightstand. Groaning, she threw together her bag, pulled on shoes, and darted out to the living room.

"Okay, I'll be back by eleven, like I promised."

Elsa smiled up at Anna, who was obviously distressed by Kristoff's irate and hunched over form, and nudged her elbow into her friend's side. "Have fun, Anna."

She waved hesitantly, saying goodbye to both of them, and pouting as she exited after Kristoff continued to just offer her short grunts.

As soon as the door shut, Elsa hit Kristoff in the shoulder. "What is your problem?"

"Hey!" He rubbed at his arm and kept his eyes locked on the rug. "Nothing. I don't have a problem."

Crossing her arms across her chest, she gave him a more than knowing look. "Kristoff, you act like I don't know you at _all_."

He couldn't help the pout that puckered at his lips. "I just…" Kristoff trailed off, squeezing his hands together in his lap. "I hate that guy. I don't think he's changed."

Concern washed over Elsa's face, teeth catching her bottom lip with worry.

xxxx

"So," Anna giggled, her arm linked with that of her suitor's. "You said you had a surprise for me tonight?"

Smiling, Hans reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet, and slipped out a thin plastic card. "Ah yes." He held it out between two fingers, waiting for Anna to take it from him. "Honestly, I don't think there's any harm in you having a glass of wine or two at dinner with me…"

Personally, he felt the relatively large year difference was strange, and felt the judgemental eyes of strangers on him when she was unable to order a drink. She was barely past twenty, and he was close to twenty-seven. And he didn't like people _judging _him.

She was hesitant, examining the ID card between her hands, and shrugged. "I don't know… I -"

"Oh, Anna," he murmured, running a hand down her cheek delicately. "It'll be _fine_." As long as she didn't _act_like a child with a fake ID.

When he started moving again, Anna just held tightly on his arm, and continued to keep her eyes locked forward. It wasn't like she hadn't done this before, but something felt… off. Why did he have that made for her? She hadn't made any indication of _wanting _it…

"Why?"

Hans stopped, turning his head down to face her. "Why what?"

Suddenly, she felt nervous. His gaze made her stomach flip, in a not-so-good way, and she felt uneasy. "Why did you have a fake ID made for me?"

He rolled his eyes, a laugh bubbling up from his chest. "Well, why not?" He pressed a kiss to her slightly parted and confused lips, catching her jaw between his thumb and forefinger. "I figured it might be weird for you that I'm having a drink, while you _can't_."

"O… Okay…"

They walked to the restaurant in silence, his thumb running carefully over the knuckles of her hand that was laced through his arm.

_While you __**can't**__._

Was he bothered by the age difference?

Did he not want people _knowing _how young she was?

xxxx

They were seated quickly, and things had started off well. The whole dream date she had thought up in her mind since she was little. Hans had held out her chair for her, ordered for her (correctly guessing what she wanted, no less!), held her hand delicately, running his other hand softly over her knee, which was barely exposed under the hem of her dress…

And he paid all of his attention to her.

Well… _mostly_.

Sometimes something else caught his eye, and Anna would touch his arm, or lean in a little closer to catch his attention again. "So I think I've made a new friend."

"Oh?" Hans asked, turning in to face her. "That's wonderful. What is she like?"

Biting her lip, Anna hesitated. She. _She_. Should she not confess that her new friend was male? Would that upset Hans? This was new to her, and she really wanted to do everything in she could to keep their relationship on the right track. "Oh… they're um… Really wonderful. A good friend of my sister's who I guess I kind of just clicked with."

Hans nodded, forcing a smile to stretch on his lips. It was obvious to him that her use of _they _meant… "I'm sorry, your friend is a male, isn't he?"

A smile and a laugh. "Y-yeah… is that okay?"

He placed a hand over hers, and left a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Of course it is, Anna! Did you think I would try to police your friends?" Guilt was a helpful tool, too, he supposed.

"Oh gosh," she was growing a little more frantic, her hands waving in front of her. "No, no! I just… wasn't sure if you'd be _comfortable_ with the idea of me only having one friend so far, and him being… well, a _him_."

"Anna…" His hand drifted up her thigh, making her jump and blush a deep red. "I _trust _you."

A softer smile spread across her lips, and he knew it so well. The smile that meant she trusted him, too. The smile that meant he had her just within his reach. The smile, he decided, that meant maybe this wouldn't be the _worst _thing he would have to settle for.

xxxx

After settling down with a drink, Elsa turned her attention back to her best friend. "So… When you say he hasn't _changed_… What was he like, when you knew him?"

Kristoff rolled his shoulders and took a long swig of his beer. "A manipulative asshole, basically." Picking anxiously at the paper label wrapped around the bottle, he continued. "I don't know if it was a _game_ to him or _what_, but he would lure girls in to dating him, and a few months later, they would be… different."

Elsa bit at her lip, and tapped at her glass. "What do you mean, different?"

"I think he abused them, honestly. Maybe not _physically _but..." Kristoff ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed. "A couple years ago, I found one of them outside his apartment… I was walking Sven and she was on the curb, crying… I sat with her and she just seemed… broken? I don't know."

He shook his head violently, as if willing the memory away. "Just keep an eye on her, okay? I don't… I don't trust him."

Placing a comforting hand against his shoulder, Elsa nodded. "I will. I still think Anna will know to get away if things got bad… Maybe he _has _changed..."

"Maybe."

xxxx

As the night went on, Anna still found herself _fighting _for his attention. Even when he was having a conversation with her, his eyes seemed to drift. He would look at the clock, at the bar, cast his eyes down at his plate…

She had honestly intended on only having one drink, that was it. Just some wine with dinner. Maybe a second glass, if it was _that _good…

But Anna had hit four glasses by the time dinner was on their table and Hans had had _another _woman order a drink for him, having it sent to the table, and laughing with her friends when he gave them a tilt of his glass and a wink.

_Kristoff_ wouldn't do that, she thought to herself as she sipped at her glass. When they were together, Kristoff _only_ paid attention to her. He didn't even _notice _the glances he got from other women walking past.

Anna clenched her fist tightly on the table, tossed back the rest of her drink, and willed herself to _stop_ _thinking about him because it's not like they were dating and he definitely wasn't interested in her and she wasn't interested in him and she definitely was dating H-_

"Anna, I think you should slow down."

"Excuse me?" she asked, tapping her nails against the wine glass. She was definitely a lightweight, and she felt like she was swimming under water.

"I said I think you should _slow down_." His voice was stern, and his hand on her arm was a little rougher than normal.

"Hey…" She couldn't take her eyes off of his hand holding her forearm. "That… hurts…" Voice in a low whisper, Anna grasped at his hand with her free one, trying to loosen the grip his large fingers had on her skin. "Why're you doing that?"

Hans sighed, and hastily let go of her arm. "I'm sorry, Anna. I think we should go…" Pity, really. He had hoped she would be able to _control _herself. At least he had learned for next time...

"No," she slumped down in her seat, raising her arm up to call over the waiter. "I'm _still _eating and I want another drin-"

In one swift motion, Hans had her wrist caught in his palm, had lowered it to the table and sat beside her, his mouth close to her ear. "Anna, please _behave_," he hissed, his voice low and demanding. "You don't need any more to drink." He had _tried _to be pleasant...

A whimper came from her parted lips as she twisted her arm in his ever tightening grip, begging for him to let go of her. "Let go…"

"Stop acting like a child." He had tried to be _kind_...

Anna didn't know if it was the alcohol or something else, but all of the sudden she felt a large lump forming in her chest. She _wasn't_ a child. She wasn't a _child_. But he was managing to make her feel so small - so much _like _one.

"I'm not…"

Hans sighed and loosened his grasp on her wrist. "Why are you doing this, Anna? Please just come with me." He had tried to _reason _with her…

Anna felt afraid. "No…"

Standing beside the table, Hans offered his hand. "Anna, please come with me." Just once more, he'd try...

She turned back to her food, and started cutting into the meal before her.

Hans sighed, and sat back down at the table. She was a spirited one, that was for sure. He'd be settling, yes, but he thought again that maybe he should have picked a someone else… No, no. Ultimately, she was an easy target… Doe eyed and desperate for a relationship…

"Anna…" He was growing frustrated as she continued to ignore him, and Hans was just about ready to leave her there. She could find her own way home, for all he cared.

His phone began to vibrate in his pocket. A heavy sigh passed between his lips as he answered it, turning away from Anna as he spoke, but enjoying the way she watched him curiously. The call had been from a subordinate, about a problem that needed fixing, but could wait if he needed it to.

It was an excuse to leave, at least.

He would be fine to see her again when she calmed down. She was tolerable on a normal day.

"I'll be right there," he finished, hanging up the phone and turning back to the redhead. "I'm so sorry, Anna." He ran his hand across her cheek. "I have to go… for work. It's urgent."

She pouted again.

"Do you want to come with me, or finish eating?"

Her gaze was barely on him as she placed another forkful of food in her mouth.

She was a _child_. He was almost starting to regret picking her.

After leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead, Hans waved over a waiter and handed him plenty of cash. "All right, Anna… I'll send a car. He'll be here soon and you can leave whenever you are ready."

He had chosen a _child_. But he had to follow through.

He didn't have _time _to court someone else... Not that women in this city were willing to do _more_ than just sleep with him.

Blue eyes rolled up to look at him as he said farewell, and he sighed, turning away from the table with a small shake of his head.

After the disaster that was this night, He would have to do _something _to get her back under his thumb. A little planning was necessary, but he had a feeling she would be slightly less angry in the morning.

xxxx

By the time Kristoff had gotten back home, Sven was eagerly awaiting his arrival to let him out into the backyard. He did so quickly, patting the mutt's head and leaving the door open to sit down in the kitchen.

At least Elsa was… being _cautious _now. But she was obviously still open to leaving things up to chance…

Kristoff jumped when his phone rang, whole body tensing when he saw Anna's name lighting up the screen.

_Shit._

xxxx

Anna had decided to sit at the bar and have a couple… okay, four more drinks, while waiting for the alleged _car _to show up.. Drinking helped people forget things, right? Well that's what they said, anyway. But really, all she was feeling was sleepy and sad and alone.

Hans had _really _left her at this restaurant, hadn't he? Left her to wait for some stranger to pick her up?

Glancing at her watch, barely making out the numbers, she realized that she barely had fifteen minutes before she said she'd be back home… and that it had been about two hours since Hans left her. With a muttered curse and some amount of money tossed onto the bar, Anna hobbled as best she could out towards the entrance.

The alcohol hit her in a totally new way when she stood up. Her head was swimming, eyes struggling to focus, and her legs felt like jelly under her body. Was the door this far away when she came in? No way… The restaurant must've stretched… It was going to take _forever _for her to get outside...

But suddenly she was sitting on the curb past the valet stand, digging through her purse for her phone. She had to call _someone_. She thought she had heard someone ask her if she needed a cab, but she waved them off… Anna wasn't entirely sure that she could remember Elsa's address in her current state.

Who to call… She really only had three options - Hans, Elsa, or... Kristoff…

It didn't even need a second thought.

"Hello?" His voice was gruff and frustrated.

"H-hi…" Anna felt tears welling up in her throat. "C-can… can you…"

"Anna? Are you okay?"

She hiccupped. "No…"

"Where are you?"

She struggled to read the sign. "Simon's Seafront or something… I d-dunno..."

"... I'll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?"

Sniffling and wiping under her eyes, Anna nodded to herself. "Okay…"

"Don't move."

"I won't…"

xxxx

He knew Hans hadn't changed.

xxxx

Anna had her head buried in between her knees when she heard the rumble and squeal of Kristoff's old truck pull up in front of the restaurant, and kept her head down when she heard the engine die. She knew she probably looked like a hot mess, and pressed her head further down between her knees when he sat beside her.

His hand pressed against her back, rubbing in soft circles. "What happened?"

Leaning into him, Anna rested her head against his shoulder, sighing in relief when he pressed his cheek against the top of her hair, hand still moving over the silky fabric of her dress. She shook her head when he asked again what had happened.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

She lifted her head and leaned more weight against him. "Mhmmm…"

Standing, Kristoff offered her a hand and a smile, and helped her to her feet, steadying her as she wobbled on gelatin legs.

"Are you drunk?"

Anna wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded, her hair bouncing around her ears. "A little…"

With a groan, Kristoff slipped one hand behind her back, and the under other her knees, before hoisting her up and off the ground. "All right, Princess… Into the truck we go…"

A tiny giggle bubbled up out of her chest into the crook of his neck, and she snuggled into his grasp. It was funny, how much better she felt once he was here. It was probably just because of her state of inebriation, and because of Hans _leaving_ her… But she felt warm and happy and _safe _in his embrace.

When he moved to put her into the seat, she held fast onto his neck.

"Anna… you have to let go…"

"Okay…" She didn't.

"Anna…" Kristoff reached up behind his head to grab her wrists and gently tug her off of him. He placed her hands into her lap and patted them before walking around the front of the truck and climbing into the drivers seat. This girl was certainly a handful…

After a minute of driving, he glanced over to Anna, who had taken her hair down and was tugging absentmindedly on her curls. "So…"

He blushed when she looked at him, with alcohol-pink cheeks and half-lidded eyes.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened?"

Anna kept playing with her curls, biting her lip and staring at him for a minute before she spoke. "I think I made him mad…"

Kristoff could feel irritation boiling in his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… he gave me an ID and I…" Anna tucked her hands under her arms. "I guess I acted childish and he said I could go home with him or he would call me a car but that was like two hours ago and no car came but I don't know if I just missed it or if he forgot to call or what but I… Yeah..."

His fingers were grasping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "What is his _problem_?"

Her hand landed on his thigh and Kristoff found himself relaxing under her touch. "N-no… No it was mine… My fault…" Anna slid herself across the cab, and pressed her head against his shoulder, and ran her fingers up his forearm. "I basically told him to go…"

She was snoring lightly against his arm before he had a chance to reply.

By the time they got back to the apartment, Anna was fully passed out, only waking once he had to shift her in order to unlock the door. She only pressed herself further into his arms, mumbling nonsense against his neck as they made their way back to her bedroom.

"All right, Anna… Can you change by yourself?" She shook her head into the crook of his neck and he sighed. "I don't know if you want me to _change _you…"

With gentle hands, Kristoff lowered her feet down to the floor and set her upright in front of him. He couldn't help himself… He ran his fingers over her hair, brushing it back off of her face, smiling when she finally lifted her blue eyes to meet his. He shivered when her dainty fingers found their way into the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Hey Kris…"

"Yeah?"

"You…" Her voice was a whisper, slightly slurred under her breath. "You wouldn't leave me at a restaurant… would you?"

"No…"

Nodding, she pulled him closer. "I didn't think so…"

Kristoff felt his breath hitching in his chest, felt his hands slowly moving to rest on her hips. Everything was wrong with this. She was drunk. He wasn't who she wanted…

"Anna…"

She kissed him, then, all soft lips and warm breath and he wanted to… Oh, he _wanted_ to more than anything else right now but all he could taste was _alcohol _and this wasn't _right_.

Kristoff placed firm hands on her shoulder and pushed her away, groaning to himself when she looked at him with those pure, trusting, lustful eyes, confusion flickering dully in them.

"Come on, Princess. Bed time."

He was careful as he lifted her, pulled the covers back and laid her down. His hands worked softly as he unbuckled her heels and placed them beside the nightstand. He even made an effort to fluff the pillow that was under her head before pulling the covers up over her.

"Good night, Anna."

"Wait…" Her voice was tired, obviously fighting sleep as she reached blindly for his collar. "Can you stay here tonight?"

Kristoff blushed, resting his hand on top of hers. "Like, out on the couch?"

"No…" Sliding closer to the edge of the bed, Anna patted at the empty space on her mattress. "Here… Please…"

He was too tired to fight, honestly, and kicked off his shoes with a sigh. He crawled under the covers, tensing when he felt her hands reach out for him, but relaxing as she pressed the rest of her body up against his. As her nose nuzzled into the crook of his neck and her breath fell hot over his throat, Kristoff felt completely at _home_. He could smell the sweet florals of her soaps, and found his arms coming tightly, almost protectively, around her. Blushing, he pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.

"Night night," she sighed, breath hot against his throat, causing another shiver to shoot down his spine. "Thank you…"

"Anytime…"

Kristoff waited for her soft snores to start before letting himself drift off.


	11. Chapter 10

Elsa had already been awake for an hour and was glancing outside to check the weather when she noticed Kristoff's truck parked right outside of the apartment. That was… weird…

"Hey, Anna?" she called, turning away from the window and walking quietly towards the back of the apartment to see if her little sister was awake yet. "Anna?" She knocked softly on the wooden door, before cracking it open slightly.

"Ann- Oh…"

Unable to stop the highly amused grin from spreading across her cheeks at the sight in front of her, Elsa crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door frame.

Not only were her best friend and little sister sleeping in the _same_ bed… they were _completely_ tangled up in one another. Anna, with her mouth hanging open, had her nose pressed up against his throat, her arms draped across his shoulders, and her legs woven through his, feet sticking out from under the sheets. And Kristoff was no better, with his nose buried into her hair, hands spread flat across the whole of her back, bits of her hair spun through his upper hand's fingers.

She wasn't sure what exactly happened to get them into this situation, but they _were_ both fully clothed so…

She closed the door and moved back out to the couch with her coffee, waiting patiently for them to wake up.

xxxx

Kristoff felt oddly warm when he woke up to an unfamiliar ring tone and hands pressing against his chest. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight, and took in the pastel green walls. Oh, right. He had fallen asleep with Anna. In her bed. Touching her.

Right…

He glanced down his chest to see the messy red mane of Anna shifting over his body and a hand reaching blindly out to find her phone on the nightstand.

"Shit…" she muttered, flipping the phone to see the caller ID, and groaned when she saw Hans' name pop up on the screen. "Nope. No." Fingers fumbled over the edge of the phone to silence it before she placed it face down on the end table, and turned her eyes up to Kristoff.

He offered her a crooked grin. "Hey."

A smile spread slowly across her lips. "Hi…"

Hands were rubbing soft circles against her back again, and Anna tucked her head under his chin, taking in a deep breath. "Thank you again… for last night…"

Kristoff nodded and pressed his cheek against the top of her head. "It was nothing, Anna."

Rolling off of his chest onto her side, Anna shimmied up in the bed to get herself up to eye level with the blond, her eyes shining brightly at him. "No… really… Thank you. For everything." She leaned forward to press a warm kiss on his cheek. "It means a lot to me."

He lifted a hand to run down her cheek, pushing her hair back over her ear. "You're welcome…"

xxxx

Elsa looked up from her paper when there was a firm knock on the door of the apartment. Who on earth would come to her door at… nine in the morning? The only real _friend_ she had here was Kristoff… and he was asleep in her sister's room.

...That still made her smile.

Maybe if she just ignored it, they would go away…

No such luck, she supposed, as the fist started rapping on the door again.

Rolling her eyes, Elsa stood up, wrapping her sweater tighter around her form before she made her way over to the entrance of the apartment. With a flick of her wrist, the door was unlocked and open, and she was standing face to face with

"Hans?"

"Ah…" He looked taken aback for a moment, before straightening his back and coughing. "Sorry, miss Arne. Is… Is Anna here?"

The blonde met his stance, crossing her arms over her chest, and stood as tall as she could manage. "Yes but… I believe she's still asleep. From what I gather, she had… someone else come pick her up last night."

Hans looked distraught, which was new for Elsa to see of her frequent client. His brows were furrowed, visibly upset, as if he didn't know what else to say. She almost felt bad for him. "Come in," she sighed, opening the door just a little wider. "Let me see if she's awake."

"Thank you, Elsa."

Gesturing for him to sit and wait, Elsa made her way back to the bedroom.

xxxx

Anna was all warm eyes and soft smiles as he ran his thumb across her cheek, calloused fingers entangling themselves in her messy curls. She was almost afraid to admit how badly she wanted him to kiss her, instead resorting to pressing her hands firmly against the collar of his flannel. "Kristoff?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah?"

They both jumped when they heard the door click and open slowly, sitting up and shifting further apart as Elsa slid into the room silently. "Hey, guys… glad you're awake," she whispered, staring at the floor in front of her feet. "So… Hans is here."

"What?" Anna hissed, looking down at her lap.

Elsa nodded, twisting her lips to one side in confusion. "Yeah… He's on our couch, waiting for you to wake up. He said it's urgent."

Falling backwards against the mattress, Anna let out a loud, low groan, that only subsided when she felt Kristoff's hand running across her hair.

"So…" Elsa laughed, tapping her finger against her chin. "Did something happen last night?"

Anna almost leaped out of her bed, pushing her sister out the door and mumbling. "Tell him I'll be out in ten minutes."

Shutting the door as Elsa left, Anna spun on her toes to look at Kristoff, who had his back to her as he moved to stand up out of her bed and stretch his arms up over his head. "So…"

He rubbed at the back of his neck, turning to face her. "You're really gonna talk to him?"

She shrugged and turned to her dresser, pulled out a pair of pajama pants, and shimmied them up her thighs and under her dress. "Well, yeah… I mean, last night sucked but he's… my kind of boyfriend sort thing? - Hey..." Grabbing hold of a shirt, Anna sighed and turned her back to him, pointing at the top of her dress. "Can you get my zipper for me?"

Blushing, Kristoff moved forwards to grasp the small zipper between his clumsy fingers, and began to pull it down her back. A lump formed in his throat as his eyes scanned over her slowly revealed milky skin and a massive dusting of freckles, and he immediately let go of the zipper when it hit the bottom of the track. "Okay so… I'm going to go out to the liv-"

"No!" she spun around, her hands pressing against his chest and her dress slipping down her shoulders to reveal a strap of her undergarments. "If Hans sees you leaving my room… He might assume… _things_ happened." Biting her lip and glancing around, Anna gestured vaguely with her hands. "Just… Turn around."

With a roll of his eyes and a hesitant turn of his feet, Kristoff stood, arms crossed, and waited for the okay from Anna. He heard a shift of fabric, and did his best not to imagine her creamy skin wrapping around the whole of her, to her stomach, her hips, her…

"Okay."

"So how am I supposed to get out of your room if Hans is out there?" He took a few steps to turn around, eyes landing on her just as she pulled a sweater over her arms.

Anna hummed, shaking her head. "Just wait a few minutes, and I'll get him outside. Then you can come out. Okay?"

He sighed, turning his eyes down and offering her the best smile he could offer. "Yeah. Okay."

Kristoff couldn't admit how badly he wanted her to tell Hans to fuck off, and how badly he wanted to wrap her back up in his arms and sleep a little longer. Something about last night - about _Anna_ - felt like home to him. Warm, comfortable, natural…

"Good luck, Anna. I hope it works out for you."

Shaking off the feeling that there was something sad under his words, Anna stepped towards the door, waving behind her. "Thank you."

xxxx

Hans was tapping his foot against the carpeted floor when Elsa vanished into her sister's room. He heard hushed whispers and rolled his eyes, sure that Anna was still angry with him. After he left last night, he had _technically_ called for a driver, but… maybe he forgot to give him the right address… or the description of the right woman.

She might have been the wrong one... But that one sure was _skilled_.

Elsa reemerged, told him that Anna needed a few minutes, and then moved to her kitchen table to sit with coffee and her paper, occasionally glancing up at him with judgmental eyes.

What a horrible host, he had thought, crossing his legs and turning his eyes down to his lap. He had a feeling that convincing Anna that he was _truly_ sorry wouldn't be too challenging… Especially with what he had planned for her tonight.

Calling in a well deserved favor, Has had a wonderful evening planned, with a boat, dinner, champagne, and…

Well, tonight he would learn how _worth it _this girl was.

He stood as soon as he heard Anna's door open, washing relief over his face when he saw her, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "Anna… God, I'm _so_ sorry about last night…"

Patting at his back, Anna pulled apart from him, offered a half smile, and shrugged. She realized she had nothing to say, and started moving him towards the door. "Come on… Let's go outside. I don't want to bother Elsa with this…"

xxxx

As soon as he heard the front door shut, Kristoff came out of Anna's room and sat down at the table across from his best friend.

"So…" Elsa folded her paper down and looked at her best friend. "What's going on…?"

Sighing, Kristoff propped his chin in one hand and kept his eyes downcast. "Nothing."

"Tell me."

He tapped his fingers against his cheek and rolled his eyes up to his best friend. "... I might… _kind of_…" he lowered his voice into an almost inaudible mumble. "haveathingforyoursistermaybepossiblybutprobablynot?"

"Whoa," Elsa laughed, patting her hand against the table. "You're going to have to slow down and speak up." A smile stretched at her cheeks as he glared at her, and she laughed out loud when he groaned and dropped his forehead against the table.

"She smells like flowers and I feel stupidly warm when she touches me and I hate this there's a reason I don't like people."

Surprise came over her face, and she put her mug down on the table in front of them.

"Oh, Kristoff…"

He nodded. "Yep…"

xxxx

"So what do you want?" Anna had her arms crossed over her chest by the time they stepped over the threshold of the apartment, out onto the sidewalk.

Hans shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks, and added a slump to his stance. This was how he had learned to look apologetic, and judging by the softening of her face, he must have been doing _something_ right. "Look I… I found out that the driver I called is… God, he's terrible."

Anna shrugged. "How so?"

"He…" Stepping forward to place a gentle hand against her upper arm, Hans frowned and knit his brows together. "He used our money and our time to ignore my request and drive out of town and get his girlfriend, I guess? We've fired him but… God, I'm sorry. I didn't find out until late last night and I drove to the restaurant as soon as I could but it was closed and you were nowhere to be found."

A roll of her eyes. "So… Why didn't you call me?"

He lifted both of his hands to rest along her jaw, rubbing his thumbs against her cheeks. "It was so late… I had assumed you called your sister - or your friend - to pick you up. I didn't want to _wake_ you…"

Anna sighed and let her shoulders relax, lifting a hand to hold one of his wrists. "I… I forgive you, Hans… But I'm still upset."

"Of course. You have every _right_ to be, Anna…" Leaning forward to press a chaste kiss against her lips, Hans pressed his forehead against hers and smiled. "Please let me make it up to you…"

Smiling a little brighter, Anna wove her hands up and around his neck, and stepped a little closer. "How are you going to do that?"

Hans was fighting a grimace with a smile as he slid his hands down to her waist, pulling her a fraction closer still. "... It's a surprise. I'll pick you up at six, okay?"

"... Okay."

He smiled and pulled away, leaving her obviously craving another touch, and moved to walk back towards his car. This was one of the easiest apologies he had ever had. "All right. I'll see you tonight, then?"

Pulling her sweater close to her body again, Anna nodded. "Yeah. It better be good."

"Oh… It will be."

So good. Easier than he thought it would be. If she was already _this_ forgiving, he couldn't wait to see how willing she would be out on the water, looking at the mountains behind the city all lit up…

He waved and sat into his car, driving off as quickly as he could, watching her turn around and head back into the apartment.

xxxx

"So… a thing for Anna, huh?"

Kristoff started to repeatedly lift and drop his head against the table, groaning and letting Elsa continue to talk.

"Look!" she started, trying to talk over the sound of his forehead hitting wood. "It's not a bad thing! I mean… She obviously likes you too - as a friend, at the very least. Oh, would you stop that." Her hand darted out, pressing against the back of his head to keep it down on the table.

He stayed silent against the wood.

"She _does_."

A small noise of disagreement came from his throat.

Elsa sighed, rubbing a hand against her forehead. "So, are you going to do anything about it?"

Lifting his head and slumping down further in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, Kristoff gave a slight shrug. "Well you see, my answer to that question would probably be a vaguely firm no."

The door swung open, and Kristoff ducked down into his seat, biting back the blush that rose to his cheeks. He heard some shuffling of her kicking off her shoes and the soft padding of her feet against the carpet before her cheery little voice came around the divider.

"Hiii guys!"

Elsa smiled up at her sister, throwing Kristoff a hasty apologetic glance. "Everything okay?"

"Yep!" Anna leaned over Kristoff's shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck to push herself into the conversation, and completely missed his clenched jaw and frown. "He explained what happened… Turns out the driver he sent for me screwed up, blah blah blah, and he's taking me out tonight to make up for it!"

Rolling his eyes, Kristoff turned his head away from her, staring purposefully into the wall. "Great. So happy for you."

Giggling and bouncing back on her heels, Anna skipped back in the apartment, locking herself into the bathroom and immediately starting up the shower.

Offering a sympathetic hand, Elsa sighed. "Kris…"

"No, it's fine." He stood, scraping the chair legs against the floor. "I'm…" A hand on the back of his head and a twist of his waist as he looked around nervously. "I'm just gonna go, okay? I'll…"

"Kristoff…"

"Seriously. It's all good, Elsa." He shrugged, and dug through his pockets to make sure he had his keys and his phone, and turned towards the door. "Getting over this shit is nothing new to me."

After a couple steps, he turned back around with a wave. "Uh… See you."

"... Bye…"

Elsa watched as he shut the door behind him, and dropped her head onto her arms on the table.

xxxx

Hans pulled up to the docks to check on his boat and make sure everything was set up perfectly for his planned evening with Anna. He was pleased that all of the help had left by the time he got there, and stepped up onto the deck. Everything had been laced with white lights, even the handrails down into the cabin.

Walking down the few steps, and ducking under the top of the doorway, he examined the inside of the cabin, satisfied with the full bar, and china sets tucked away under the sink. A smile tugged at his lips as he walked through the final door into the V-berth in the bow of the boat. Crisp white sheets were tucked tightly in under a deep blue comforter draped over the whole of the mattress.

He rolled his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest, and hoped that the mix of alcohol, the beautiful cityscape, and romantic music on a boat alone would convince her of just how _sorry_ he was…

If Hans was being honest, he needed this to work - needed _Anna_ to work. She was probably the only woman in Anchorage willing to be in a relationship with him… and he _needed_ the 'Wife-and-Kids' life to convince his father that he was responsible and _ready_ to be the first heir to his family's business, over his brothers.

Lucky for him, Anna wasn't too hard on the eyes.

His nerves, however, would require quite a bit of toughening up.

xxxx

Kristoff shut the door of his truck and sat silently for a moment, before slamming his hands against the wheel with a grunt. It was just a crush. Just a _stupid_ crush, that never had any chance of going anywhere. There was a reason he hadn't let himself develop feelings for anyone in years. The last time he had…

He shook his head and banged his forehead against the horn once before sitting back in his chair.

Of _course_ she forgave Hans so quickly. Why would she stay angry at someone as _perfect_ as him? Why would she ever think that maybe the _friend_ who came to get her and who she slept so comfortably with would be worth a second look?

Rubbing his palms into his eyes, Kristoff let out a heavy breath. That was _enough_. He barely even knew her, much less wanted her to give up her whole fairy tale relationship for him. Besides, it was just a crush.

A crush that formed because she smelled nice and made him laugh and was warm and welcoming and a _great_ kisser.

It wouldn't happen.

He did his best to shove it out of his mind.

xxxx

When Anna came back into the living room, she took one glance around before turning to Elsa and asking, "where's Kristoff?"

"Oh… He had to…" Elsa turned to look at her sister, and smiled. "He had to get back to let Sven out. He said to say bye, and that he hoped you had a good time tonight."

She blinked twice, and sighed. "Okay… I wish he had stayed to say goodbye…"

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Elsa offered her an apologetic half-shrug. "Sorry, Anna. The dog's his best friend."

"Yeah. I guess I'll just talk to him later."

"Don't worry about him, Anna." Elsa turned back to her newspaper, thankful that she finally had a chance to sit in silence and read it. "Just have fun tonight."

xxxx

Hans had come to pick her up at six pm on the dot, and they were already making their way to his surprise location, which seemed to be outside the main city. Anna had asked over and over where they were going, and he would just laugh and pat her hand, reassuring her that she would _love_ it, he promised.

Giving him a cocked eyebrow and smile as they pulled into a spot at the harbor, Anna started bouncing in her seat. "Are you taking me out on a boat?"

He winked at her and swiftly got out of his car before making his way around the hood to help her out of the passenger seat. Linking her hand through his arm, Hans led her around to the proper boardwalk to his docked ship. "I figured you might enjoy seeing the best view of the city."

Anna was amazed at Hans' ability to sail the large vessel on his own, but when she mentioned it he laughed it off.

"Oh, no. It's such a short distance, and so much is operated electronically now… I couldn't do a long trip on my own. But just out to…" he paused to point just a bit further out on the water. "...There? Easy. Now... Do me a favor, and keep your eyes on me. I don't want you to see the surprise before we get there."

Anna nodded, more than happy to keep her gaze locked onto Hans.

It only took about fifteen minutes before he dropped the sails and brought the boat to a halt. Smiling at Anna, and grabbing for her hand, he lifted her knuckles to his lips and placed a chaste kiss against them. "Now… Close your eyes."

She did as told, even using her fingers to help prevent herself from seeing anything he didn't want her to.

"Wait here," he suggested, stepping out of the cockpit and moving down towards the cabin. "I'll get us some drinks… And remember," he turned to point at her, his hand on the railing of the stairs. "No peeking."

"Yes sir!" Anna cheered, keeping her hands pressed flatly over her eyes.

Hans poured the champagne quickly, reminding himself to monitor her alcohol intake tonight, and held the glasses firmly between three fingers as he made his way back up to the deck, grinning when he found her standing against the railing, her eyes still closed, and a bright smile on her face.

She may have been irritating, but she was certainly beautiful. If he could bed her, he'd _probably _be able to ignore the chatty and loud part of her personality. Honestly, he couldn't have been more thankful that she had dressed up so lovely - it'd be even more satisfying for him to peel her clothing away. That soft, flowing dress and her loose curls billowed out around her as she stood, waiting for him, and for a moment, he thought that maybe this was true infatuation.

"Anna…" Hans took a few steps towards her, moving more quickly when she turned to face his voice. "All right… Put out your hand, I have a drink for you."

As soon as the glass was in her hand and he had one of his free again, he placed it on her waist, and turned her to face the city skyline. "Okay…"

"Okay?" She was bouncing on her toes, trying desperately not to open her eyes.

"And… Look."

Blue eyes fluttered open, growing wider, her jaw dropping, as she took in the view of the lit up city skyline in front of her, back dropped by the large mountain range to the northeast. The lights of the buildings along with the moonlight brightened the snow covered peaks of the mountain tops, and everything was reflected in the water surrounding Anchorage.

"Oh my… God…" Anna was completely breathless, no words forming in her brain as she took in the sights. Until she felt warm hands circling around her waist, and a chin resting into the crook of her neck.

"I'm so sorry about last night," he mumbled, pressing a kiss against her jaw. "But I'd love it if you gave me another chance. More nights like this are possible if you do."

Leaning forward on the railing, Anna tilted her head to give him more access to her neck, and sighed. "I… wouldn't be here if I wasn't giving you another chance…" She took a small sip of the champagne, smacking her lips together as she tasted a hint of strawberries in the drink.

Anna turned to face him, keeping her face close to his, and pressed her back into the railing while wrapping her arms around his neck. "Don't make me regret it."

The rest of the night was a blur for Anna, between the chill of the air mingling with his heat, the alcohol making her head swim, and the far beyond romantic view, she found herself down in the cabin, three drinks down, her dress unzipped and Hans' shirt completely gone. She had planned to wait, honestly, she did…

But his hands and mouth were so warm, words so sweet in her ear, that she couldn't help but give in, letting him lead her to the cabin's bed, slide the chiffon of her dress down over her shoulders, and mark her as his.


	12. Chapter 11

Anna was laying out on the deck, wrapped up in a blanket, waiting for Hans to follow her up, when she decided it was probably best if she let her sister know that she wouldn't be home tonight.

_**[ hey elsa! staying the night w/ hans on his boat! so cool ]**_

_[ … Wait, what? You're spending the night with him? On a boat? ]_

_**[ pay attention, sis. it's totally ok! he's got a whole big cabin on this boat! lots of room. totally safe and weather is good! ]**_

Anna groaned when she saw her sister's name come up again. It's not that she didn't love talking to Elsa… but the sky was bright and clear, with a beautiful and luscious dusting of all the stars no longer polluted by the city lights.

Though she did wish she could see the aurora borealis…

_[ Anna are you sure about this? Just… be safe, okay?]_

Hans came up the steps, and Anna grinned up at him as he sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

_**[ will do, elsa. see you tomorrow! ]**_

He kissed her full on the lips, and Anna couldn't help but drop her phone down on the deck beside them as he deepened it.

xxxx

Elsa sighed, clenching her phone tightly between her fingers. Anna may have been twenty, may have been a grown woman and able to make her own decisions, but that didn't stop the awful nausea that filled her stomach. Just this morning she was angry at him, didn't even want to see him… and now she was spending the night with him?

That apology must've been something else.

Her phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump. She definitely hadn't been expecting another text from Anna. And if it wasn't Anna, then…

_[ hey there ice queen. is your sister back from her magical evening of being whisked away by mister fancy pants? ]_

_**[ Ah… no… Kristoff, sorry. She's not. She's spending the night. ]**_

About ten minutes passed before Kristoff replied, which Elsa had spent staring at her phone and willing his name to pop up.

_[ cool. just wanted to see if she wanted to go on a walk tomorrow with me and Sven. didn't want to bug her if she was still out though. thanks. ]_

Falling backwards onto her bed with a groan, Elsa rubbed at her temples. This was all going to be so complicated, wasn't it? If she had it her way, she'd just love for her sister and best friend to get together, honestly.

But it was Anna's life… and Anna's choice.

xxxx

Kristoff decided it was time for a run. Something to burn off his energy. Moving quickly, he changed, put Sven on his leash, and went out the door, starting on his usual path.

He wanted so badly for this to be out of his head. He didn't like her. He didn't want or need her. Why on earth was he getting so upset over this? He barely _knew _her!

Shifting his focus to his steps, to his breath, Kristoff managed a good mile before he thought about her again. Before he thought about her tiny little fingers holding onto his. Before he thought about _her _breath on his throat, warm and comforting and…

He shook his head, picked up his pace, and increased his heart rate.

No woman had gotten under his skin like this before - and, truth be told, he wasn't about the let one get there now.

xxxx

"Hey, Anna," Elsa greeted up over the top of her paper when her little sister finally came through the door the following morning. "Did you have a nice night?"

Giggling, Anna flopped down on her back on the couch beside her sister, stretching her legs out over the armrest, and resting her head on Elsa's leg. "It was… Oh, Elsa… It was _amazing_. Hans is amazing…" She bit her lip and lifted her hands to cover her mouth, still snickering. "We… um…"

Elsa dropped her paper and shot her gaze down towards the redhead. "Anna! Did you…"

Doing her best to keep an innocence to her smile, Anna twisted on the couch to sit on her knees and face her sister. "We… did _things_. It was… Interesting."

The blond furrowed her brows together. "Interesting? Well that doesn't exactly sound _good_."

"It wasn't… bad… just…" Anna pressed her elbow into the back of the couch, and leaned her head against her palm. "He just seemed kind of… calculating. Like he does it the same way every time, almost?" Shrugging, she lowered her voice into a bit of a mumble. "I mean, he was… _phew_… He was _good_. But he was a little more focused on himself than me, I think."

Laughing, Elsa covered her mouth with her hand and gave Anna a sideways glance. "I'm sure you can help him learn how to be more attentive to you. You're not exactly a… quiet person, when it comes to what you want."

There was a twinge of an off feeling in the back of Elsa's mind, as Anna continued recalling the events of the previous evening. To her, Anna was still the little fifteen year old girl that she left all those years ago. It was almost shocking to her that her baby sister was so… grown up. Champagne, nights on boats, what could maybe blossom into love, and sex…

When Anna started on about how much she liked Hans, Elsa felt a little hurt in her heart for her best friend. She knew him well enough to know that his feelings ran deeper than he would admit. Kristoff certainly wasn't the type to kiss a girl, let her lay on his lap, pick her up in the middle of the night, and sleep with her curled up against him if he didn't want more from her.

He didn't like people, and he certainly wouldn't be spending so much time with Anna if he didn't want _more_.

Elsa _wanted_ to be happy for Anna, but she couldn't find it in her to forget about Kristoff's feelings. So she plastered a smile onto her face as her sister continued to speak, and did her best to convey at least a _look _of excitement for her.

Anna paused when Elsa's phone chimed, looking down with a small hint of sadness playing in her eyes. "Is that Kristoff?"

"Uh… yeah…"

Biting her lip and twirling her fingers together, Anna took in a deep breath. "I think he's mad at me… He wouldn't answer my texts since yesterday…"

The blonde placed a warm hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I'm sure he's just busy. It'll be okay."

xxxx

It had been three days since Kristoff answered her texts. He flinched when he saw her name pop up on his phone.

_[ hey… ]_

He ignored it.

_[ … are you mad at me? ]_

Kristoff sighed, placing his phone back into his pocket. He was on his break at work, and he really didn't feel like dealing with his _feelings _right now. Figuring the less he talked to her, the better, he ignored the next three buzzes. He caved and looked at the fourth.

_[ … please answer me… ]_

_[ what did I do? ]_

_[ Kristoff… please… ]_

_[ you're my only friend. please don't be mad at me… ]_

Groaning, Kristoff quickly punched in as short as text as would answer the question.

_**[ Not mad. At work. ]**_

_[ … okay ]_

The last thing he needed was her knowing how infatuated with her he was - knowing how stupidly interested in her he had grown. He had told her that she was his type, but he had to conceal the rest. Had to hide the warmth that he felt when she was around, hide the desire to just touch her constantly, and hide all of his _feelings_.

He hated feelings.

Shaking the weight of them off his shoulders, he tossed his phone back in his truck and moved to head back to work, doing his best to push Anna out of his mind.

xxxx

Hans took a deep breath as an old flame of his sat down at the table beside him, shooting him a mischievous grin.

"It's been a while, Hans." Her voice was low and sultry, and he adored how she only said what was needed - a complete contradiction to Anna's cheerful and bubbly prattle. "What made you call?"

"Claudia…" he smiled, placing a warm hand over her much smaller one, and leaned a little closer. "Do I _need _a reason?"

She laughed, bright green eyes reflecting her amusement, and placed her other hand over his. "You don't _need_ one… But you always _have _one."

She was right, of course. Anna was beautiful, had sweet, plush lips, and was all _sorts_ of willing to try things… But she was still relatively innocent. And sometimes, he wanted something a little bit _wilder_. Winking, Hans pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. "I just need a little stress relief… And you've always been my favorite."

Their past was long and complicated, but the raven haired girl knew all about him, and refused to continue to see him past occasional and casual sex. She had admitted being in love with him once… but when she learned about his past, Claudia had decided it best for her to cut it short.

But that didn't mean they couldn't have a little fun.

"Favorite, huh?" She propped her chin up on her hand, elbow pressed against the table, and rolled her eyes. "If I recall correctly, you were _always _seeing other women."

Laughing, Hans moved his hand to cup the back of her head, tugging gently on her soft locks. "Well, I'm seeing someone else right now. Does that change your mind about being here?"

Claudia placed a firm hand on his mid thigh and smirked. "Has it ever?"

xxxx

_**[ Can you please talk to Anna? ]**_

_[ I answered her today. ]_

_**[ Four words… ]**_

_[ Better than nothing, right? ]_

Elsa sighed, and pressed a couple fingers against her forehead. She knew Anna was hiding how much it was getting to her, and she knew Kristoff was ignoring how upset _he_ was by the whole situation. She just had to get them in the _same room_… Maybe then they'd talk about it…

_**[ Come over tonight. We can hang out and talk about it. ]**_

_[ … Just us? ]_

_**[ Probably? I think Anna has something planned with Hans? ]**_

So maybe that wasn't _entirely _true… but she did say she thought. That wasn't guaranteed.

_[ … Great. Sure. ]_

Smiling to herself, Elsa cheered inwardly. She just hoped that when Kristoff got here and saw Anna, he wouldn't leave immediately.

xxxx

Somewhat pleased that Kristoff had finally replied to her (despite it only being four words…), Anna had offered to run out and get some coffee and pastries for her and Elsa, while her sister continued to work on her ledgers and other paperwork for her clients. Elsa had _finally _let her take the car on her own.

As she pulled into the lot of the cafe, her eyes landed on the familiar silver Mercedes. Why was Hans here? He knew it was her favorite cafe, but he had no idea that she was coming down here… Was he going to surprise her with something?

A new skip formed in her step as she headed towards the entrance, grinning from ear to ear by the time her hand hit the door. They didn't have another date planned for a few days, but the possibility of just running into him randomly around town excited her. She'd love to see her sort-of-boyfriend today - it'd really be the icing on top of the cake.

Pushing the door open with gusto, Anna burst in, eyes excitedly searching the room for Hans, smile dropping when her gaze landed on the red headed businessman. He wasn't alone, which obviously meant he wasn't there for _her_…

She rested her hands against the back of a free chair, watching with curiosity.

That woman must have been a client… or a coworker… or a superior? Maybe?

Anna bit at her lip as they laughed together, and watched with tense shoulders as her hand landed on his thigh. Okay, that was a little weird, as was how _close _they were together.

The woman tucked her hair behind her ear, and Anna got a closer look at her face. She didn't _look_ familiar… But she _had_ to either be a close friend or a… very inappropriate work associate for Hans to be leaning in that close, and touching her hand like that, and sitting further up in his chair to force her hand up higher and _oh god…_

He was kissing her.

_Kissing _her…

Anna clenched the back of the chair she was leaning on with hands so tight her knuckles began to turn white.

Did he really think that this was _okay_? Weren't they… Wasn't he her…

Judging by how his hands wandered and how he let the stranger touch _him_, Hans and Anna weren't much of _anything_.

She couldn't tear her eyes away. It felt like hours before the woman pulled away and whispered something in his ear that caused him to stare after her with dark eyes as she moved towards the restrooms. Anna quickly realized that this was probably the best opportunity to confront him. How _dare _he?

"Hans!"

He jumped at the sound of his name, glaring towards the offending voice, and immediately forced his face to soften when he noticed who was approaching him, steam practically puffing out of her ears. Wonderful. This would, without a doubt, put a damper on his day.

"Anna…"

Stopping just in front of him, and watching as he stood in front of her, Anna huffed out an infuriated breath. "Who's that? Why are you here with _her_? Why are you _touching_ like that? Why on _earth_ are you _cheating _on me?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down… Don't make a scene," he started, placing hands on her shoulders and giving her a soft smile as she relaxed. "I'm not _cheating_… Anna, we never discussed if we were exclusive or not."

Her shoulders dropped. "... What?"

She had briefly informed him that she hadn't properly dated much in the past, and Hans was going to use that to his advantage. She didn't really _know_ how dating worked, right? Much less dating in your late twenties… For all she knew, this was perfectly _normal_.

"Anna, we're just _dating_. We're not a couple… I thought you understood that?"

Her face faltered, as if she were scolding herself for not knowing something that was seemingly so basic. Perfect.

"We're not exclusive - I mean, _god_, I like you a _lot_… I really do, and I want to keep seeing you but…" He stroked his hand down her cheek, and pressed a soft kiss to her still turned down lips. "... Until I know if there's a future for us, I think it's best we see other people, too."

Well… _He _could see other people, at least.

Anna bit at her lip and shrugged. "I don't know if I'm okay with that…"

Brushing her loose hair back behind her ear, Hans' mouth turned slightly downward at the corners. "We can talk about it more later, if you'd like." He leaned down to kiss her cheek again, before continuing. "Come over tonight. About seven. I'll text you the address. We'll talk."

"You're going to leave with her?"

What a child.

He gave Anna a quick hug, rubbing a soft circle on her back. "It'd be rude for me to leave her… I'm so sorry, Anna."

As much as he wanted to continue to see other women, if it was going to possibly ruin his chances with Anna - and therefore his chances at becoming the sole heir of his father's business - he may have to stop.

Or at least be more careful about it.

He pulled away, hoping that when they talked tonight, he'd be able to make her _see _this point of view. That dating wasn't exclusive, at least not until he had her under his thumb.

"We'll talk later, okay?"

Anna watched him meet back up with the raven haired woman, make a vague gesture with his head, heard her laugh, and immediately flushed a bright red. Was he talking about her? About how silly she was?

Was it childish to assume that dating someone meant you were _only _dating them?

Doing her best to shove him out of her mind and get back to Elsa, Anna ran up to the counter and ordered her drinks as quickly as possible.

xxxx

Hans' breath hitched in his throat as low moans echoed up from his lap. Oh, he had _not _chosen incorrectly in calling this one. She was the type who got more enjoyment out of pleasing her partner, and that was _absolutely _fine by him.

He knew that nothing would probably happen with sweet little Anna for a while now, and was more than happy to oblige when Claudia offered up her _services_. She was a minx, and knew exactly where and how he liked to be touched… and could topple him over the edge in just a few minutes.

When she was finished, she stretched up to kiss him.

Grimacing, Hans pushed her back. "Sweetheart, you know the rules."

She was a wonderful partner, but oh so _awful _at hiding her disappointment. "Right, yeah."

He glanced at his watch, noting the time, and mumbled a quick "I have to go," shoving her from his lap. "Don't hesitate to call me if you want to… meet up again."

xxxx

When Anna got home, she handed Elsa her coffee, before quickly and quietly sitting down on the couch. She didn't even so much as look at the blonde, keeping her eyes locked onto the coffee table as she sipped at her hot chocolate.

"Thanks…" Elsa stared at the back of her head until she couldn't take it anymore. "Is something wrong? You're never this quiet."

Anna was tapping her nails against the armrest, and stayed silent. She knew her sister meant well, but she wasn't ready to talk about this yet. Besides, she wasn't sure Elsa would answer her truthfully or not - they were still adjusting to one another, and it was obvious that neither wanted to get onto the other's bad side for as long as they could manage. Anna was fine with that, but it meant she couldn't exactly talk to her sister about serious issues yet.

"Anna?"

"I'm okay. Please, just… Don't worry. It's fine."

Elsa frowned, but turned back to her paperwork, letting her little sister wallow in whatever was affecting her mood so negatively.

She couldn't get out of her head. Was this truly normal? Was it okay to be seeing more than one person at once? It wasn't like her dating history was exactly spectacular… in fact, it was almost nonexistent. Anna had never really _dated_… just… hooked up with. Hung out with. Whatever it was.

After Elsa had left… she was desperate to feel wanted by _someone_.

Boys liked her…

Shaking her head and leaning towards one side of the couch, Anna covered her head with her arms. There was no reason to go back there. She wasn't that person anymore, and she didn't need to think about it.

Besides, she _did_ like Hans… _really_ liked him. He was kind and sweet and romantic and _wanted_ her. But was it so wrong to want some sort of guarantee that she was his top priority? That she was _all _he wanted?

Anna stood up abruptly, checking the time on her phone, and moved towards the door. "I'll be back later, Elsa. I have something I have to do, okay?"

"Wait, I… ah…" Almost knocking her coffee over with how quickly she stood, Elsa scrambled over to grab her sister's arm. "I had some plans tonight, for us and… and Kristoff, if you'd like. He's coming over at eight…"

An idea snapped in Anna's mind.

_Kristoff_.

"Oh, yeah! I'll be back by then. Or close to then. I promise!"

Anna ran off before Elsa could reply.

xxxx

Hans stood quickly when he heard a knocking on his condo's door, and opened it to find a huffy little red head on the other side. "Anna… I'm glad you came." He shifted to the side, gesturing for her to cross the threshold. "Come in, please."

Taking a few steps into the living room, Anna turned on her heel to face Hans, not even giving him a chance to say anything. "So you're saying that because we're _just _dating, we're not exclusive, right?"

He hesitated. "... Yes."

"So…" She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a hard stare. "So _I _can see other people, too."

Hans propped his hands on his hips, forcing a smile onto his face. "Well, I suppose that's only fair." Was she serious? He'd have to step up his game with her later if this was how she felt. "Do you have someone in mind?"

Her smile held a mock-innocence, and she shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe. But it's just good to know I can go out and talk to other men if I want to."

He knew she would be a little difficult, but she was becoming a bit more of a _wild card _than he would have ideally wanted. That was fine. She could play this game for a short while, if she wanted to. He knew how to play it better. "Absolutely. Fair's fair."

"Great."

Hans stepped forward to touch her, but she avoided him, and moved towards the door.

"Anyway, I have plans with my sister tonight." She kept her face fairly stoic as she left, hand on the doorknob before she turned to look at him. "I'll call you later!"

Staring after her for a while after the door shut, the ginger blinked a few times in disbelief. Had she really just done that? Honestly, he was hoping that she was already infatuated with him enough to not _want _to see other people…

Oh well.

He could use this to his benefit, if played correctly.

xxxx

Kristoff sighed with relief when he got up the stairs to the door of Elsa's apartment and couldn't hear anything besides the very low volume of the television. That most likely meant that Anna was out, and that he'd be able to just spend some time with his best friend. He knocked and waited patiently for Elsa to answer.

Immediately after she did, they said their hellos and he went to the kitchen to grab a beer. "You know," he called over the door, laughing at her always stocked fridge, "I love that you always have my favorite here. I should probably start paying you for these."

Elsa shrugged as he sat beside her at the table, and continued thumbing through the takeout menus. "Please. With all you do for me, and are doing for Anna now… beer is the least I can do to repay you." She tapped at her chin, and shoved the pamphlets towards him. "You pick."

The front door burst open as Anna came inside, kicking off her shoes with an angry groan. "I can't believe him!"

Kristoff shrunk in his seat, trying his best to pretend like he wasn't there.

Elsa stood up to greet her sister. "Anna… What happened?"

"Nothing. Just… Nothing. Apparently we aren't as serious as I thought." Anna sat on the couch and took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it though. Can we just…" Turning around to look at her sister, she finally noticed Kristoff sitting beside her. A blush rose to her cheeks as she tried to keep her eyes on him. "Oh… Hi!"

He waved at her, but kept attempted to glance through the menus. They… weren't as serious as she thought? Did that mean… _No_. Kristoff clenched his jaw and focused on _not _thinking about any potential feelings he might have for her.

Elsa glanced between them, sending apologetic eyes to Kristoff, and turned back to Anna. "What do you want for dinner?" She gestured to the table of menus, smiling when the redhead stood up and walked over to sit beside Kristoff. "We can't decide."

Stretching to grab all of the menus, Anna wound up reaching across Kristoff's chest, not even noticing how he shivered under the brush of her hair under his chin. "Do we have Chinese? I could go for some sweet and sour chicken."

Kristoff scooted his chair back from the table (and as a result, moved further away from Anna), and bit back his blush when she looked up at him, confused. "Yeah. Under Greek." He pointed his finger towards it, and as soon as she opened up the menu, shot a glare over at Elsa. Wasn't she supposed to be gone tonight?

Shrugging and offering an expression that she hoped wasn't _too _guilt-ridden, she moved to grab the telephone and place their order - which wound up being way more than what a normal group of three people would get.

"Okay," she placed down the phone and sat on the armchair near the couch, smirking when Kristoff glared at her as he and Anna moved towards the long sofa. "It'll be here in like twenty minutes. What do you want to do in the mean time?"

"Man," Anna snorted, shrugging off her sweater and exposing the lace trimmed camisole underneath. With a wink, she leaned over and poked Elsa's arm. "I thought you had stuff planned."

Eyes wide and cheeks red, Kristoff couldn't take his eyes off of her shoulders and neck, freshly exposed from the removal of her sweater, and even more now as she tugged her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head. And as she leaned forward to grab the television remote, arms squeezing her chest in that _one particular_ _way_… he coughed and stood up abruptly, walking backwards in the apartment to the bathroom.

The sisters stared after him, before looking at one another and shrugging.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Kristoff turned on the faucet and splashed cold water over his face, bracing his hands on the edge of the sink. Was she teasing him on purpose? No, no. Why would she do that? She had no reason to do that…

He heard a knock on the door, and turned to face it.

"Kris…?"

Even her voice was making him shake.

"I'm fine, Anna."

She leaned against the door, producing a tiny, but audible _thump_, and he sighed, opening the door and letting her in. "I'm fine."

He just wanted her to stop staring at him… He had been _so wrong_ about ignoring her making this easier. It just made him want to touch her _more_. At least when they hung out frequently, she hugged him and grabbed his hands and arms and made him feel so stupidly warm.

He _really _felt the lack of warmth.

And the way she was staring at him made him weak in the knees.

He had promised himself that after _her_, he wouldn't let himself get close to anyone else that way. He couldn't take it. But Anna was making that more and more difficult.

"I'm okay."

Smiling at him, Anna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Are you still mad at me?" Her voice was muffled against his shirt, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms up around her shoulders.

"I told you I wasn't mad."

"Okay, good!" she cheered, stepping backwards, and sliding her hands down to grab his. "Then come on. Elsa pulled out a game. It looks like fun!"

Kristoff couldn't stop his cheeks from flushing and a small smile from stretching across his lips.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: **I hope the ending of this chapter isn't too abrupt. It was originally part of a much larger chapter... that wound up being so long, I decided to split it into two parts :P so here is the first! next will be up soon ;)

* * *

Anna was moving with a purpose as she took the long trek over towards Kristoff's house. She needed to talk to him, and Elsa had very hesitantly given her his address. It was a little outside of town, and probably a little too far to walk… but she didn't mind. It gave her plenty of time to figure out what exactly she was going to say.

Last night had gone relatively smoothly - especially after the food came, and they started playing some card game that showed Elsa's more inappropriate side to Anna. They had laughed a lot, and Kristoff had let her lean on him again, and was more than happy to mess with her. Between stealing food directly off one another's plates, and him nudging her to try and distract her as he peeked at her cards… Anna felt like she had a real friend back.

Having her friend back made her think about Hans' _seeing other people_ suggestion, and _really_ made her think about seeing if Kristoff wanted to go on an actual date with her. She was attracted to him, after all, and she had a really great time spending time with him… Where was the harm in going out with him… with a bit more of a romantic undertone to it?

She had _tried_ to bring it up last night, but it felt like something she shouldn't talk about in front of her sister. How do you tell your sister that you wanted to date her best friend?

Anna finally caught sight of the house at the address Elsa had told her, and felt a smile stretching her cheeks. It was such a sweet little ranch house, with a deep brown wood outside, a long porch, and a single door garage. She saw his truck in the driveway and sighed with relief, happy that he was actually home.

Stepping up the stairs and taking a deep breath before she knocked, she froze and panicked when she heard a commotion inside - barking, the bang of something falling over, and a small voice screaming "No! You _can't_ open it without tapping your nose first!"

If she had known he had people over, she _never_ would have tried to bother him. Turning to run from the porch, Anna froze with one foot in the air when the door swung open and she heard a familiar voice.

"Anna?"

She put her foot back down and turned around quickly, throwing a hand up in front of her shoulder to wave. "... Hi!"

Kristoff smiled at her, leaning up against the door frame and nodded. "Did Elsa give you my address?"

"Yeah…"

A little girl appeared at Kristoff's side, clinging to his leg and looking up at Anna with curious brown eyes.

"Hi…" Anna glanced over her, amused at her little frilly dress and fairy wings.

"Who are you?"

Anna blinked, let her hand drop to her side and knelt down to meet the girls' eye level, with a smile. "I'm Anna. I'm a friend of -"

"You're pretty" She was tapping her toe against the metal at the bottom of the door frame, eyes shifting downward to stare at the wood porch. "I like your hair."

Laughing, Anna tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, thank you."

Kristoff was watching with interest, smiling down at the two girls. "This is Katie. She's -"

"Are you Krissy's girlfriend?" Her voice shifted into a giggle, bursting into a full laugh as Kristoff reached down and hoisted her up over his shoulder with an embarrassed "Okay!", and carried her back into the house.

"Come on in, Anna!" he called behind him, moving in towards the living room and dropping the little girl onto the couch.

Anna stepped over the threshold, closing the heavy blue door behind her, and stepped into his house to see four kids sprawled out across the room. Giving Sven a quick pet as he jumped around her feet excitedly, Anna examined the house in more detail. For some reason, she was surprised to see how clean the house was - she almost expected Kristoff to be messy…

She was suddenly really embarrassed about the state of _her_ room…

Kristoff came up to her after poking at the little girls tummy, and leaned up against the wall near her. "Hey. Sorry…"

They both watched as Sven trotted off and started rolling around on the floor with the fairy girl and a little toddler.

"Oh, no, no!" Anna protested, waving her hands in front of her face. "Please. I came over unannounced. Besides… they're adorable." Leaning over to look at the kids, she smiled when the little girl waved at her again.

Laughing, he turned his body full on to face her, and stepped just a little closer. "So what's up?"

Anna blushed and snapped up, her back straight, and bit at her lip. "Actually um… I… was wondering if maybe… you'd…" She felt herself shrinking under his confused gaze, and started twisting her fingers in her shirt. "If you'd… um… let me come on walks with you again?"

Kristoff went to ask if that's _really_ what the question was, wondering why the _hell_ she would walk all the way here just to ask something that could have been resolved by a phone call, when he felt a pillow hit him in the back of the head. "... Hey!"

"Kris!" A young boy, of maybe ten or eleven, was waving from the couch. "Call of Duty time, let's go!"

"Hang on, Jase!"

The blond turned back to Anna, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. "So, um… Is that really why you came here?"

She nodded eagerly, her cheeks still flushed.

"Well, all right…" He laughed and stepped back. "Of course you can, Anna. I know Sven's missed you," Kristoff finished with a wink, nudging her with his elbow.

Clasping her hands together in front of her chest, Anna bounced on her toes and nodded. "Well… Great! That's great." She looked around and shrugged. "Well. Yeah, that's it. So… I'm gonna go, then!"

"Hey, wait!"

She froze, staring up at him with her mouth slightly agape. "...Yeah?"

Kristoff rubbed at the back of his neck and laughed quietly. "Ah… I mean… You came all the way here… I know I'm babysitting but, uh, I could definitely benefit from some help. These kids are a little nuts." His face was ruddy, and he was avoiding her gaze. "Do… Do you want to stay? Hang out… maybe?"

Smiling, Anna nodded. "Yes!"

xxxx

After inviting Anna to get comfortable and making sure she didn't want anything to eat or drink (and also reassuring her that she could help herself to anything in the kitchen), Kristoff moved back towards the living room with her in tow, and clapped his hands together. "All right, kiddos, line up oldest to youngest. Introduction time!"

The kids all groaned and stood up, making Anna laugh behind her hand at their disdain.

"First of all, this is Anna." The kids all waved and waited for the rest of the introductions. Kristoff pointed at the kids one by one, starting with a tall, lanky girl, whose eyes were glued to her phone. "That's Shawna. She _never _stops texting."

Lifting one hand in a vague greeting gesture before immediately returning back to her phone, Shawna mumbled something that was possibly a hello, and moved back to sit on the arm chair with Sven next to her.

"Okay… Next up, Jason." Kristoff smiled when he actually waved and said a proper hello. "He loves video games. Pretty much all he does."

"And I'm the best!" He looked beyond proud of himself, standing up tall with his hands directly at his sides.

"That's right kid, you are," Kristoff laughed, twisting at his hips to make sure Anna was all right before continuing onward, as Jason moved back to sit on the couch. "You've already met Katie… sort of. She likes all that fantasy fairytale stuff."

Bouncing forward on her tip toes, she wrapped her arms around Anna's legs. "And princesses. I like princesses too! My favorite story is Rapunzel!"

"Your favorite story changes weekly, Kid." Kristoff couldn't help but smirk as Katie continued to spin around his friend's legs, twisting her jeans up, before settling on the floor next to her. "And finally, we've got little Brennan…" He almost lunged forward to pick up the toddler, holding him up over his head as he giggled, and set him down on his shoulder, turning to face Anna. "And that makes all four."

Anna smiled, met his gaze directly, and nodded. "They're all your…"

"Nieces and nephews," he started, noting the slight confusion on her face. "I… I was adopted."

"Oh!" Laughing, Anna let out a little tension that had settled in her shoulders. "That makes a _lot_ more sense."

She didn't want to say anything, but she _had_ found it kind of weird that they were all a completely different race than him… She had gathered that his father died, but he didn't mention his _mother_… "Oh."

Giving her a soft smile. "Yeah."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, Anna worrying her bottom lip, and Kristoff letting the toddler down when he began to fuss, turning his head to watch him as he waddled back over to the center of the room. She stepped forward to press a comforting hand against his arm, and immediately removed it when his head jerked around to look at her.

Maybe she _should_ have left.

"Um…"

"Kristoff! Come _on_!" Jason whined, holding up his second controller. "I said Call of Duty time like thirty minutes ago! Let's goooo!"

He laughed and excused himself, and moved to the couch to sit with his nephew. "All right, kid. Prepare to go down."

"You never beat me, dork!"

Shawna was laughing, and glanced up from her phone for just a minute. "He lets you win, Jase. Didn't you know that?"

"No way! I'm just really great, _okay_?!"

Anna was still for a moment, just listening to the exchange between the three of them, before she felt a little tug on her pant leg. Glancing down, she saw the warm honey eyes of the toddler - Brennan, she remembered - and knelt down to greet him. "Hi there."

"Up."

Giggling, Anna reached out and grabbed the boy under his arms before hoisting him up in the air.

"That way," he mumbled pointing towards the couch with one hand, the other one grabbing at her braid.

"Yes sir." Taking the few strides over to the living room, Anna found an open spot on the floor and sat, placing the toddler into her lap. "What do you want to do, buddy?"

He looked at her with wide eyes before wiggling out of her hands and crawling out of her lap, straight over to a large felt playmat with wooden tracks on it.

Feeling rejected, Anna curled her hands up into her lap and sat quietly, until Katie sat down beside her. "It's okay," she mumbled, placing down her sketchbook and crayons. "He prefers to play alone. It's not 'cause he doesn't like you."

She let out a soft sigh of relief, and turned her eyes down to the little girl. "Thank you."

"Mhmmmm." She started coloring, drawing simple shapes and designs, for a few minutes, before she looked back up at Anna, who had started watching their video game with interest, laughing as Kristoff and Jason were shoving each other and hollering trash talk, and Shawna was rolling her eyes. "So are you Krissy's girlfriend?"

Blue eyes turned back down towards Katie, and Anna's face was bright red. "Ah… nope. Just a friend."

They sat silently again, Anna blushing deeper when Kristoff turned to look at her, giving her a smile wider than she thought she had ever seen him give anyone before.

"Why not?" Katie was almost monotone as she asked, interrupting Anna's thoughts.

"... Why am I not his girlfriend?"

"Mhmm… You're pretty. And he smiles at you a lot. You _should_ be his girlfriend."

She laughed and rubbed at the back of her neck, shifting the position of her legs to fight off the pins and needles that had started. "Well… Just smiling at someone doesn't necessarily make a solid relationship."

Shrugging, Katie kept coloring. "Well you have only been here for a little and I've never seen him smile at someone so much."

Anna's face stayed red, and she quietly stood and moved to the couch, sitting beside Kristoff. He looked up at her, watching as she sat, and she nudged him with her elbow. "You're dying."

"Oh shit-"

"Bad word!" Katie yelled, hopping up and grabbing the little glass jar on the table. "Grammy says you have to put a quarter in every time you say a bad word!"

Shawna glanced up from her phone and laughed. "Katie, shit is _barely_ a bad-"

"You too!"

After he sighed and placed two quarters into the jar, while ignoring the little girl's happy laughing at the sound of the metal hitting glass, Kristoff turned to Anna. "You wanna try?"

"Um… sure?" She couldn't stop blushing as his hands wrapped around hers as he directed her in how to hold the controller, his cheek close enough to hers that she was sure he was able to feel the heat of her blush.

"So… This is the button to shoot… this one to duck… this to aim… yeah."

Risking one glance at him, she clenched the controller just a little tighter as she watched his mouth move, tongue darting out to lick at his bottom lip before he continued directing her.

"This to…"

She could barely hear him, and she knew she had missed some important direction.

"Okay?"

Turning her head further, she noticed his smile, and felt butterflies churning in her stomach. "Yeah… I'm probably going to forget what's what though." He really _did_ smile at her a lot. Did… did that _mean_ something? He _had_ been acting kind of distant and weird but…

How do you go about asking something if they're interested in you?

"That's all right," he laughed, patting her shoulder. "Worst case you ask. All right." He turned to his nephew and hit him in the shoulder. "Go easy on her, Bren."

"No promises." He popped the end of his hoodie's drawstring in his mouth and bit down on this. "Ready, Anna?"

"I… I guess so!"

He started up the game, and Anna was beyond overwhelmed. It wasn't like she hadn't played video games before… but they mostly consisted of an assortment of Mario games. Not… _this_ chaos. There were too many people, she didn't know who was on what team, who she should be shooting and who she should be avoiding…

After being killed for the fifth time, Anna groaned and handed the controller over to Kristoff. "I'm good, thanks," she mumbled with a small laugh, before slipping off the couch, onto the floor, and crawling over to the toddler who was still distracting himself with toy trains.

Kristoff flushed red as he watched her crawl, unable to tear his eyes away from the plump roundness of her behind. It _really_ didn't help that he had already seen it basically bare… He continued to watch, as she started talking to Brennan, bottom still up as she leaned on her forearms to get down to his level.

"... stoff!"

"What?" he snapped, turning to look at Jason. "S-sorry, bud."

Shrugging, Jason gestured over to the little girl who was digging through one of the bags they had brought with them. "I think Katie wants to do tea now."

Kristoff couldn't help but groan, and ran a hand over his face. "Please don't make me wear the tiara this time, Katie…" He didn't have much hope that she would let him get away with _not_ wearing the tiara, but it was at least worth a shot to ask. But, honestly, he _really_ didn't want to wear one in front of Anna.

She stood up tall and smiled brightly. "You know that _everyone_ at the tea party has to wear one, Krissy!"

That had caught Anna's attention, and she rolled onto her side in order to glance up at the commotion. "Tea party, huh?" She felt a smile stretching her cheeks and rested her arms across her knees. "I haven't had a tea party since I was, like, eight!"

"Yesss!" Katie ran over to Anna and started tugging on her hands. "I'm so happy you are here! Shawna never likes to come to my parties. It's always just me an' Brennan an' Krissy an' my dolls! But now I have another princess to come!"

Katie started running back and forth between the bag and the coffee table, setting up all of the places she thought necessary, giggling excitedly when she got to set one extra place for Anna.

Snickering, Anna stood up and picked Brennan up before walking towards the table with the teapot and cups set up, and placed him down beside the table, before going to sit.

"Not there!" Grabbing her hands, Katie led her over towards Kristoff, and sat her down right beside him. "Krissy gets to sit next to the real princess!"

Anna laughed. "_Real_ princess?"

As she was setting out her favorite cookies and a bowl of 'sugar cubes', when she turned back to face the older pair. "Of course! You're pretty and nice and older like the Disney princesses… so you _have_ to be a princess! It's especially the pretty part. You're _really_ pretty." She tapped on Kristoff's knee and snickered. "Don't you think so, Krissy? Isn't she pretty?"

Kristoff coughed and dropped his gaze to the table, straightening up the cup in front of him. "Uh… I… No I… I… I mean, of course she is… b-but…"

"But?" Anna questioned, resting her chin in her palm.

"N-no not but… You're… Um…" His face was bright red, and Anna burst out laughing, patting his back.

"It's fine, Kris. Don't worry."

When Katie finished seating all of her dolls around the table and setting the table up to her liking, she reached back into the bag, and pulled out a whole assortment of tiaras. She placed the small ones on top of her dolls, before holding out the remaining four. "Pick your favorite!"

Anna picked out a big and gaudy one, placing it on top of her head, and placed her hands under her chin. "How does it look, Katie?"

"Beautiful! You're so pretty, Anna!"

Glancing over to Kristoff, Anna smiled and cocked an eyebrow. "So?"

"... Cute." Stupidly cute. So cute he wanted to pick her up and kiss her and not let her go. How could one person be so attractive _and_ adorable at the same time?

Katie bounced in front of him, smiling from ear to ear. "Your turn!"

Kristoff groaned, and pulled out the least gaudy of the bunch, rolling his eyes. "Do I really have to?"

"Yes!" He was pretty sure all of the five people in the room shouted that in unison.

"Fiiiine," he whined, picking the simplest one she had, placing it on top of his head, and dropping his face into his hands when he heard Shawna snickering. He was one hundred percent sure that she had taken pictures, so he continued to do his best to hide his face. "I hate this."

"Aww." Anna covered her snickering mouth with her hands, and slowly pulled out her phone, snapping a quick picture. "I think you look _beautiful_."

"Don't you dare."

After about five more minutes of ridicule, Katie finally said it was okay for him to take it off, and started pouring 'tea' for all of them. They sat and sipped at their 'drinks', Katie jumping around and cheering, making her dolls drink and eat, as everyone else snacked on little cookies.

"You really do look cute in that tiara, Anna."

Anna blushed, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "Thanks…" Taking a moment to laugh to herself, she leaned over and poked his shoulder. "You did too, by the way."

Groaning, Kristoff ran a hand through his hair and rested his cheek against his fist. "Hilarious. God…" He was red and warm, shrugging under her gaze. "Don't you _dare_ do anything with that picture, Freckles."

"Oh, Kristoff… you _know_ I'm sharing it with Elsa." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone, flipping to the picture in her gallery. "Look how _cute_ you look! Such a pretty pretty princess!"

He tried to snatch the phone from her hands, grunting as she moved her hand out of his reach and started giggling. "_Give it to me_," he growled, leaning closer to her, and groaning again as she moved it once more. "You're really trying to get to me, aren't you?"

Anna laughed some more, leaning backwards just a little more every time he reached over her… until he wound up toppling her over, his hands on either side of her head, and his knees on either side of her hips.

_Oh_.

Her face was bright red, swallowing hard when his fingers brushed over hers to grab her phone. She watched with curious eyes as he flipped through the phone, glancing up at the screen from under his bangs.

"Aaaand… deleted."

Pouting, Anna tapped at his nose, blowing a little raspberry. "Party pooper."

He laughed, slipping her phone back into her pocket, and suddenly grunted when he felt a new weight on his back.

"Tackle pile on Kris!" Jason screamed, throwing his body over the blonde's back.

"Wait no -"

"Eeee!" Katie screamed hopping up and over Jason, knocking Kristoff down onto his elbows, and just a little closer to Anna.

"H-hey guys, careful…" Kristoff started leaning in one direction, hoping that the kids would just easily slide off of his back. "Come on, we can wrestle once Anna isn't in danger of getting hurt, okay?"

"Awww," they both complained, standing up and moving back to the couch.

Standing, Kristoff reached down to help Anna to her feet, watching as she smoothed down her braids and heaved a relieved sigh.

"Phew… Is this how your babysitting always is?"

He laughed. "Pretty much, yeah. Sometimes we play football… and that's just insane." He grabbed her cheeks and glanced over her face. "You okay?"

Blushing, Anna grabbed his hands off of her face, and held them between her own. "Yeah, I'm fine. Really…"

"Good."

Shawna sighed and put her phone down in her lap. "Wanna watch a movie or something?"

Kristoff gasped, throwing his hands up in the air, making Anna chuckle. "She speaks!"

"Shut uuuup!"

Kristoff and Anna sat down on the couch, smiling when Brennan crawled into Anna's lap, and waited patiently for the kids to pick out a movie to watch.

"So really," Anna started again, laughing and patting a hand against his knee. "It's _always_ like this?" She couldn't believe that! Today was just showing her all knew sides of Kristoff that she couldn't have even imagined. Not only was he _clean_, but he was _great_ with kids.

He smiled, placing his hand on top of hers, and nodded. "Pretty much. They can drive me a little crazy, sometimes…" He squeezed her hand a little bit, running his thumb across the back of her hand. "But I like having you here."

Biting at her lip, Anna leaned in a little closer. "... I like being here."

They both felt it, a sudden magnetism between them, pulling them just a little closer, so close, still, that they could feel the heat radiating between them.

"You do?"

"... Yes…"

Brennan reached up and squished Anna's cheeks, before giggling and pulling her away from Kristoff. He tugged lightly at her braid again, smiling and turning around on her lap.

"You're a quiet little boy, aren't you?"

Brennan nodded, turning to face the television as the Pixar lamp started bouncing across the screen.

Kristoff leaned back against the cushions, and couldn't stop jiggling his knee. It was probably for the best that he didn't kiss her, anyway. Maybe he was reading completely too far into this, and she wasn't interested at all. Maybe he was just being _stupid_.

The movie started playing, and all the were kids piled up on the couch and the armchair, cuddled up and laughing along with the movie. As time went on, Anna had wound up leaning against Kristoff's shoulder, Brennan asleep in her lap, and Kristoff resting his cheek on top of her head.

He took a moment to look around, taking in all of his surroundings. Something felt so right here. Anna resting on his shoulder, with a toddler in her lap, and other kids sprawled out around the room. It wasn't like he was thinking that he _wanted_ kids with Anna… but…

He hadn't felt this possibility since…

Since Sam.

Kristoff felt the nausea from guilt churning in his stomach, and tried his best to just focus on the movie and nothing else.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Here's part two of that ridiculously long chapter that had to be split in two!

Note that this fic has officially reached M status. **This chapter contains explicit sexual descriptions**. If you're not a fan of smut, you can judge where you want to stop. The chapter ends directly after the smut so you won't be missing anything. Read up to where you're comfortable and then just "They had sex".

* * *

By the end of the movie, all of the kids were asleep on his furniture sprawled across the living room, and Kristoff knew there were maybe fifteen minutes left before his mother came to pick them up. Anna had kept her head on his shoulder, petting her hand over the back of the toddler's head, and nuzzled just a little closer to him.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and whispered "Do you want me to take you home after they leave?"

Biting her lip, Anna shrugged. "I guess?"

There was a firm knock on the door, and Kristoff begrudgingly got off the couch, heading over towards the entrance of his house, and pulled the door open quietly. "Hey, Ma," he whispered, letting her in and wincing when she started with her version of whispering.

"Ooooh all my babies are sound asleep! You do such a great job with them, Kristoff." Bulda reached up to squeeze his cheeks and pat his face.

"Ma… Stop!" he groaned, blushing red as Anna giggled from the couch.

Her little titters caught Bulda's attention, and she spun on her heel to examine the stranger who was holding her grandson. "My oh my! Who have we got here? Well aren't you just a pretty little thing." She smacked Kristoff in the arm when he tried to talk. "Why haven't you told me about this girl? Is she your girlfriend? Baby you haven't been open to a relationship -"

"Ma!" Kristoff sighed with relief when she stopped talking. "No. Not girlfriend."

"Oh." She almost sounded disappointed. "Well, anyway! Don't be so rude, baby, introduce me!"

Anna hoisted Brennan up a little higher in her arms as she stood, moving over towards Kristoff and his mother. "Hi," she started, her voice low. "I'm Anna. It's so great to meet you!"

"Likewise, sweetie!"

Brennan started to fuss, pushing against Anna, until Kristoff came over and plucked him off of her chest, bouncing him up on his shoulder. They exchanged smiles, and Bulda looked curiously between them.

"You can call me Bulda," she interrupted, amused at how quickly Anna seemed to snap back to reality. "So, Anna… how did you guys meet? I doubt it was through construction…"

"Oh, no. My sister is Elsa? They're best friends. I just moved here about two months ago, and we've just kind of become friends."

Bulda nodded, and gave Anna a big smile. "Makes sense! I just love that Elsa. She's such a good friend. And if you're her sister, I bet you're just as fantastic."

Coming back to stand next to the two women after waking up all the kids, Kristoff grinned. "Nah, this one's pretty lame."

"Hey!" Anna smacked his arm, and laughed with him, and Bulda couldn't help the smile creeping up onto her lips.

"Okay kiddos, time to get home to mamas and papas!" The kids all started moving towards the door, slowly and sleepily, one by one giving Kristoff hugs, before they moved out to the car to wait for Bulda to finish talking to her son.

"If you're coming for dinner tomorrow night, bring this one," she said, gesturing to Anna. "If she helped you out today, we have to thank her properly!"

Shaking her hands up, Anna blushed. "Oh, no. Please! It's totally fine. I'm sure all I did was get in the way more than anythi-"

"I won't hear another word about it!" Bulda interrupted, reaching up to pull Kristoff down to her level and kiss him on his cheeks. "Tell Kristoff what you'd like so he can let me know, okay?" She moved onto Anna, wrapping her arms full around her, and gave her a hug tighter than Anna had ever experienced before.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Ma."

And she was gone, the van driving off into the night.

Kristoff turned to Anna with a grin, and shrugged. "So I guess you get to meet the _whole_ family tomorrow…"

Returning his smile, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sounds like fun."

A silence fell between them - it had started off fairly comfortable, but grew more awkward the longer it went on, until Kristoff couldn't take it anymore. "So… Want me to take you home now?"

She bit her lip and rubbed at the back of her head. It was now or never, and she knew if she didn't ask tonight, she probably never would. Besides, there had been something there before, right? She couldn't have been imagining that attraction… Right? "Ah… Actually um… So I kind of came here for another reason?"

Kristoff nodded. "I figured."

"So okay… This is probably going to come out all wrong so just… hear me out, okay?"

"Okay…"

Taking a deep breath, Anna stepped a fraction closer, before twisting her fingers together in front of her stomach, and looking down at her toes. "So I… I kind of… I kind of like you… like… _like_ you… and I know it's stupid but I… well… Okay so, Hans and I apparently aren't exclusive and… and like, while I _like_ him I don't like _love_ him or anything - well not yet, anyway… if I ever do, I mean -"

She risked one glance up to find his face bright red and contorted into some emotion she couldn't even recognize. Sighing, she continued. "So he's dating other people and I guess that means we're just casually dating and I can date other people too and honestly I've never stopped thinking about how you kissed me and I liked sleeping with you and I really just can be myself around you and I wanted to know if you kind of maybe wanted to try going out with me on like a _date_ maybe possibly?"

Kristoff was completely still, face red and unable to form any sort of words. He certainly _wanted_ to say yes, but he could feel all of that guilt swirling in his stomach again. But what about _her_, he heard them yelling at him through the back of his mind. What about _Sam_.

And not to mention, Anna may have just been doing this to make Hans jealous. What if she was just using him for selfish reasons? Then wouldn't he just get hurt _later_? He certainly _wanted_ to say yes… every fiber of his being wanted her and to hold her and be _with_ her. But could he take it? What if…

Apparently he had been silent for too long, because Anna was almost vermillion as she stepped past him and mumbled out "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that was just stupid I'm _stupid_."

"W-wait, Anna, hang on…" He turned on his heel to grab her arm, stopping her from running out the door. "L-look I just… Um…"

Anna was trembling in his grasp, obviously embarrassed and upset, and kept her eyes down.

"I… I just… there's a _lot_ you don't know and I just…"

He didn't want to share her.

"I…"

But he started to think that might be the only way he even had a _chance_.

"Yes."

Turning slowly to look back at him, Anna sniffled. "Yes?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Definitely."

A smile started to spread on her cheeks, and she all but leaped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and tugging him closer to the ground. Her nose was buried in the crook of his neck, muffling her words. "Really? Like… for real, really?"

Kristoff was stiff for a moment, before relaxing and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Really, Anna. For real. Yes." He sighed contentedly as her fingers started playing with the hair on the back of his neck.

Doing his best to ignore the screaming in his head, he pulled her just a fraction closer. He had done everything in his power to fight off his feelings for Anna… but now… He decided he was going to do everything in his power to fight _for_ her. He didn't trust Hans. And he wasn't going to lose Anna like he lost Sam.

It wasn't going to happen.

Kristoff pulled back from her, keeping his hands on her waist, and took a deep breath. "Can I kiss you?"

Her nodding was enthusiastic, and he almost immediately lifted his hands to her jaw, pressing forward until he met her lips with his own. This felt so incredibly different from the last one, as she smiled against his mouth and laughed as he pulled away, kissing the corners of her mouth.

It was simple and chaste, as he finished with a warm kiss against her forehead.

"So…" Kristoff wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close against his chest. "... Do you want me to take you home?"

Holding him closer, Anna shook her head against him. "Nope."

"What do you wanna do?"

She pulled away and bounced on her toes, clenching her hands under her chin. "I want to…" Her eyes moved to the television, catching sight of a familiar game. "... kick your butt in Mario Kart."

He couldn't help but laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. "You wish, Red."

xxxx

After he had gotten it set up, Kristoff went to sit beside his excitedly bouncing… girlfriend? No… Not that, yet. He looked at her as she smiled brightly back at him, bouncing her bottom on her sock-clad feet squished between her and the couch. God, she was cute…

He wanted to share her for as little time as possible.

"Come on, Bjorgman! Let's go! Or are you _scared_ to get your butt kicked by a _girl_?"

He laughed and shoved her, clenching his stomach as she fell onto her side and scrambled up into a sitting position. Settling down as she glared at him and punched his arm, Kristoff turned back to the television. "All right, Anna…" He smirked, side eying her. "I'm sure you know that the _true_ test of skill can only be found on Rainbow Road, right?"

"Of course."

"Best two out of three?"

Nodding, Anna lifted the controller up to her chin, and stuck her tongue out, concentrating. "Sounds good."

"Ready?"

The game started, and things went smoothly for the first round. Just playful banter, a little shoving, and Kristoff getting totally distracted by her licking and biting at her lips.

"Ha! Told you! I am the best at this game!" Anna was gloating, standing up on the couch and dancing some silly choreography, that was obviously a not-so-well practiced victory dance.

Reaching up to tug on her shirt and pull her back down on the couch next to him, Kristoff glowered at her. "Not for long."

He lost round one.

He wasn't going to lose the second.

It got a little more intense as they raced around the track for a second time. Anna had started reaching over to knock the controller out of his hands whenever she had run off the track, and Kristoff had started to distract her by saying Sven was doing adorable things over on that side of the room (to which Sven always just looked at them confused, and huffed at them before going back to sleep).

Kristoff rose his hands in victory, letting out a loud cheer, until he saw Anna pouting next to him. Then he felt bad. "... One more round."

She took in a deep breath, screamed "Yeah!" and sat forward on the couch, waiting for him to start the final round.

The first lap had gone fine, and Anna was even winning, until she got turned around and fell off the track, letting Kristoff pass her. He couldn't help but laugh as she dropped her controller in defeat.

"Oh, come on. You can still win! It'll be tough…" He finished with a wink, glancing up at her as she moved on the couch. Until he realized that she was crawling towards him… Her hand pressed down on the controller, forcing it out of his hands and onto the ground as she swung her leg over his lap, sitting up on her knees in front of him.

"H-hey…"

Anna didn't say a word, just leaned forward and slanted her lips over his, pulling a groan from his throat as she nipped at his lips.

Kristoff lifted his hands to grasp at her hips and back, running fingers over the fabric of her sweater, and getting entirely lost in the taste of her mouth. They had been here before… but everything felt different this time. Like he was _allowed_ to do this. And this time, he liked her a _lot_ better than he had last time.

The timer signifying the end of the match started chiming, alerting both of them to pull away and stare at the screen.

"... So… who won?" Anna asked, turning back to face him, face red.

He couldn't help himself. He had wanted to last time, and he wanted to this time. Standing and wrapping her legs around his hips, Kristoff kissed her full on the lips again. "Me."

Everything moved so quickly then. She pulled his shirt over his head and bared his broad chest and shoulders to her, and he grabbed firmly at her ass and walked back in the house to his bedroom, mouths still moving fervently together. When she shifted on his hips to tug her sweater up and off, Anna had managed to knock a lamp in his den over. Kristoff laughed and shook his head, told her not to worry, before latching his lips onto her throat and pressing her back up against the wall of his hallway.

Anna scolded herself for a brief moment. She had promised herself when she moved here that she wouldn't go hopping into bed with just _anyone_… She had wanted to stop doing this…

But his hand slipped under the waistband of her jeans, ghosting over her center, and she gasped and clung tighter to his shoulders, turning her head to catch his lips again.

Kristoff wasn't just _anyone_.

Using her hands to push off the wall, she motioned backwards with her head, smiling into his kiss when he nodded and continued towards the bedroom. He wanted this as much as she did, and Anna was more than ecstatic.

She felt his grip loosen before she hit the mattress, and all of the sudden his fingers were under her jeans again, pulling them down and off, leaving her in just her bra and panties, while he crawled over her, straddling her hips with his knees.

Kristoff faltered for a moment, eyes scanning over her body and darkening with lust. How could he have gotten this lucky? He must be dreaming… He was _positive_ that he _was_…

Until her hands grabbed his wrists and led his palms to lay flat over her lace covered breasts.

"A… Anna…" His cheeks flushed red, and he realized that he just had _no_ idea what he was doing. None. At all. Whatsoever. His mind was racing. It had been _so long_ and he was just a kid and Anna was so beautiful and delicate and _sexy beyond belief_ and oh god what was he doing?

Her smile was soft and sweet, as she laid her hands on top of his and helped him start to knead his fingers over the soft skin peeking out over top of the lace. "Touch me, Kristoff."

He could feel himself growing harder as he watched her lips move, felt her run her fingers up the back of his hands to his wrists, finally settling on his forearms. Swallowing hard, he moved his hands down to her ribs letting the pads of his fingers press up against the bottom of her bra. How could someone with such a sweet smile make him ravenous with lust?

"Where?"

Leaning up to wrap a hand around the back of his neck and kiss him deeply, Anna used her free hand to lead his around her back, and he almost immediately began fumbling with the clasp. When it finally came undone, Kristoff smiled against her lips and threw the piece of cloth straight across the room.

His question went unanswered, but somehow he just knew. It was Anna… and he knew.

He laid her back down, slowly, as he moved his mouth from her lips, leaving a trail of warm, wet kisses down her jaw, neck, chest… settling over one of her stiff nipples. She groaned, pressing her chest up into him, and he didn't want to wait any more.

Sliding his hands down her sides and resting on her hips, Kristoff continued his trail down over her stomach, her hipbones, the tops of her thighs… almost moaning when she parted them for him, forcing his hands to move to hold firm to the outside of her legs.

His mind was racing, questions ranging from _what if I screw this up_ all the way to _what if I get too attached_ were screaming at him, as he worked up the courage to kiss her inner thigh.

"K-Kristoff…" Anna's voice was shaking, and she moved her foot to press against his denim clad leg. She couldn't help the bright flush that spread from her cheeks down her neck, as she glanced down at him between her legs. She couldn't believe that she hadn't even had to _ask_…

Hans… Well Hans barely warmed her up, honestly.

His fingers slipped under the flimsy fabric of her panties, and tugged them over her hips and thighs, dropping them on the floor beside the bed as soon as they cleared her toes. "I'm…" He licked his lips, glancing up at her for just a moment, blushing deeper. "I'm a bit rusty at this…" he breathed, admiring the way she glistened, already so _ready_… because of _him_…

"Y-you don't… h-have to…" She started sitting up.

Pressing a firm palm to her stomach, Kristoff couldn't stop the mischievous grin that started on his lips as he threw her legs up over his shoulders, and watched her lay back, eyes half lidded and lip caught between her teeth. She was so beautiful…

He laid his mouth flat against the whole of her, moving up with one long, languid stroke of his tongue from her base over her clit. Kristoff drank up her small, high pitched moan, and continued onward - sucking, flicking, licking - giving attention to everything that made her clench his hair tighter between her fingers and buck her hips up against his mouth.

Anna was weak, she realized, as he pulled away and she tried to move her hips to find him. "Kris… Kris, _please_…" Suddenly, his fingers found her, and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out.

He may have been clumsy and not as well practiced as some of her previous partners, but he observed her, and made changes based on how she reacted and, _oh_, Anna felt herself teetering on the edge until he stroked in just a certain way… She came hard against his hand, throwing her hands down against the bed, scrambling for purchase.

Floating down from her high, Anna watched with hitched breath as he crawled back over her, his mouth shining with what was left of her on his skin, and flushed even deeper. Kristoff kissed her and she grimaced slightly at the taste of herself, but continued to lift her hands to his still remaining jeans, and unclasped them as quickly as she could.

He laughed as she shoved downward on his pants and underwear, only managing to get them below his behind with her short arms, and continued kissing her as he helped release himself from his restraining clothes. Kristoff sighed into her mouth with relief as the pressure of his hard cock against his pants was removed.

"More?" he mumbled, wrapping his arms tightly around her and flipping her up on top of him, smiling brightly as she let out a small squeal and a giggle.

Anna used her feet to push his pants the rest of the way off of his legs, shuddering when she realized just _what it was_ she felt pinned between them. "... Yes."

She forced a hand between their stomachs, touching gently at his hard cock, and admired how it twitched and how he sighed. And when she ran her fingers down his length, she was shocked at the size of him…

Though based on his height and broadness, she shouldn't have been _that_ surprised.

Kristoff walked his fingers up her sides before pressing them firmly against her breasts again, freezing when she lifted up from him, grasped his shaft firmly in one hand, and lowered herself onto him.

"F-_fuck_…"

Rocking her hips just a few times to gauge his reaction, Anna bit at her lip and leaned forwards to give him one soft kiss, just on the corner of his mouth. He had satisfied her… So she was about to take care of him.

She was a minx, moving skillfully against him, and Kristoff didn't think he would manage to last all that long. He grasped at her hips, her thighs, her hands… _anything_ that might ground him and stop him from collapsing underneath her within just a few moments.

He realized quickly that it was no use as she knew exactly how to move, and exactly what to twist and press and… Her name was rolling over his tongue as he reached his climax, hands grabbing her shoulders and pulling her down, flush against his chest, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, shaking and burying his nose into the crook of her neck.

Kristoff hadn't realized just exactly how much he had missed this… missed… being with someone - specifically someone who he had some sort of _feelings_ for.

It wasn't like he had been with anyone since Sam… but…

Pressing his mouth against her skin as she lifted herself off of him, Kristoff tilted his chin so he could catch her lips in one more kiss before she pulled away.

"You're amazing, Anna."

"... Not too bad yourself, Bjorgman…"


End file.
